Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation of Screening

Recent data suggests that women with medically documented woman abuse use 1.6 times more health resources than non-abused women with similar medical concerns, and 2.3 times more than all women in the same health care setting, even when the cost of care is adjusted for co-morbidities (Ulrich et al., 2003).  The annual health-related cost of violence against women in Canada has been estimated at CDN$1.5 billion (Day, 1995). Co-investigators Drs. Amiram Gafni and Tom Abernathy have expertise in cost evaluations of health care interventions. If one or more interventions shows an effect, they will conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of universal screening versus no screening.

References

Day T. The health-related costs of violence against women in Canada.  The tip of the iceberg. London: Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children. 1995.

Ulrich YC, Cain KC, Sugg NK, Rivara FP, Rubanowice DM, Thompson RS. Medical care utilization patterns in women with diagnosed domestic violence. Am J Prev Med. 2003 Jan;24(1):9-15.

Last modified February 29, 2008