Background: Although intimate partner violence is common, the prevalence in patients hospitalized on internal medicine services and whether it is associated with numerous positive responses to the review of systems are not known.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of intimate partner violence in women hospitalized on an internal medicine service and to determine whether it is associated with the number or types of positive responses to the review of systems.

Design: This was a prospective, cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The setting was a university-affiliated public hospital.

Patients: The patients were women, 18 to 60 years old, hospitalized on an internal medicine service.

Measurements: The measurements were responses to screens for intimate partner violence and a review-of-systems questionnaire.

Results: Of the 78 women asked to participate, 72 agreed (92%). The prevalences of experiencing intimate partner violence at any time in the patient's life or within the year prior to presentation were 61% and 22%, respectively. Women with a history of intimate partner violence and women without a history of intimate partner violence had 11 +/- 4 (mean +/- standard deviation) and 8 +/- 5 positive responses to the review of systems, respectively (P < 0.01). Women with 10 or more positive responses were more likely to have a history of intimate partner violence than those with 9 or fewer (odds ratio = 4.82, confidence interval = 1.63-14.23).

Conclusions: Intimate partner violence is common in women hospitalized in an internal medicine service of a university-affiliated public hospital. Although numerous somatic complaints are associated with a history of intimate partner violence, the high prevalence of this problem warrants screening of all women admitted to internal medical services.