Abused Women Suffer Lasting Effects

Originally published by HealthScoutNews, June 7, 2002

Women who suffer domestic abuse appear to face much higher rates of long-term physical and emotional health problems compared to women who have never been abused.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing found that abused women suffer from neurological, gynecological and stress-related health problems 50 percent to 70 percent more often than never-abused women.

The symptoms of these health problems include headaches, back pain, sexually transmitted diseases, urinary infections, appetite loss and abdominal pain. Those who had been abused also reported significantly more gynecological, chronic stress and central nervous system problems.

The study, which was funded by the U.S. Army and published in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine journal, involved 2,005 well-educated, middle-class working women.

Doctors and other health-care workers are becoming more aware of the immediate health problems associated with domestic abuse, the researchers say.

But this study shows that awareness needs to extend to health problems that persist, develop over time, or linger after the abuse ends.