HealthDay: Neurologists Should Screen Patients for Abuse: Experts

People with certain disorders might be more vulnerable to violence, says American Academy of Neurology

By Robert Preidt

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Neurologists should screen their patients for abuse by family members, caregivers or other people, the American Academy of Neurology says in a new position statement.

Problems to look for include elder, sexual, child, financial and emotional abuse; bullying, cyberbullying and violence.

Certain neurologic disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease or stroke, may raise the risk for abuse and neglect, the academy said.

The statement outlines 10 principles for neurologists to use when meeting with patients. These include integrating questions about abuse into a patient's medical history and routinely checking patients for past and ongoing violence.

The academy is also offering free training to members interested in learning how to deal with domestic violence issues in their communities.

"Neurologists see patients with neurologic disorders that may make them more susceptible to abuse or neglect. They also see patients with neurologic issues that may be either directly or indirectly related to mistreatment," statement lead author Dr. Elliott Schulman, of Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Penn., said in an academy news release.

More than 90 percent of all injuries caused by intimate partner violence occur to the head, face or neck and can result in traumatic brain injury, according to the statement.

It also noted that people with neurologic disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease may be at increased risk for abuse and neglect.

"By routinely asking about violence and abuse, the neurologist increases the opportunity for both identifying ongoing abuse and intervening when appropriate," Schulman said. "In addition to further physical and emotional harm, consequences of not asking about abuse might include failure of treatments and, when children are exposed to abuse, perpetuation of the cycle of abuse from generation to generation."

The statement appears Jan. 25 in the online issue of the journal Neurology.

SOURCE: American Academy of Neurology, news release, Jan. 18, 2012

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Study ties bullying, domestic violence

June 13, 2011 

Boston.com

Boys who are bullies are nearly four times as likely as non-bullies to grow up to physically or sexually abuse their female partners, a study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found. With growing public concern over bullying, the authors said they wanted to examine the tie to domestic abuse because both abusers and bullies are driven by the desire to exert control over another person.

The researchers surveyed 1,491 men between ages 18 and 35 who were recruited from three Boston community health centers. Of the 241 men who reported being violent toward a partner in the previous year, 64.3 percent said they had bullied other children during their school days. After using statistical methods to account for other factors that affect both bullies and abusers, such as exposure to parental violence, the researchers found that the 92 participants who said they had frequently engaged in bullying were 3.8 times more likely to have later abused their adult partners.

Survey Finds Much Victimization of Children Goes Unreported

Percentage of cases revealed to authorities has risen, experts say, but many remain hidden

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_107309.html (*this news item will not be available after 04/04/2011)

By Randy Dotinga

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 60 percent of 10-to-17-year-olds surveyed in a new study say they were victims of violence, abuse or crime in the past year. However, fewer than half said that authorities ever learned about what happened.
Researchers led by David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire surveyed youths 10 to 17 years old and parents of children up to 9 years old in 2008. More than 4,500 children were involved in the survey.

More than 58 percent of the kids said they'd been victimized in the past year, including reports of bullying. Of these, just shy of 46 percent said authorities knew of at least one of the incidents.

Authorities were more likely to know about incidents that were more serious, such as certain cases of sexual assault, kidnapping and gang or group assaults, the survey found.

"However, even emotional bullying (51.5 percent), neglect (47.8 percent) and theft (46.8 percent) were often known to authorities," the authors wrote. Kids were less likely to report assaults by peers and siblings, dating violence, sexual exposure (such as flashing) and statutory rape.

"Childhood/adolescent abuse is frequently described as a hidden problem, and victimization studies regularly have shown that much abuse goes undisclosed," the study authors wrote. "The hidden nature of childhood victimization has multiple sources. Clearly, children and adolescents are easily intimidated by offenders and fear retaliation."

The authors added that, in many cases, young people and their families choose to deal with incidents "informally," fearing the consequences of police and court involvement.

The study did find, though, that authorities are more aware of victimization than during an earlier survey, conducted in 1992.

"However, the study also shows that a considerable portion of childhood/adolescent exposure to victimization is still unknown to authorities," the authors wrote. "The study suggests that outreach needs to be particularly enhanced toward boys, Hispanics and higher-income groups. It also suggests that disclosure promotion should be directed toward episodes that involve family members and peer perpetrators."

The study is published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, news release, Jan. 3, 2011

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