Neighborhood bar density linked to intimate partner violence-related visits to emergency roomst

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been linked to heavy drinking, substance use by one or both partners, and living in a neighborhood characterized by poverty and social disadvantage. Alcohol outlet density has been linked to assaultive violence in a community. A study of the association between alcohol outlet densities and intimate partner violence (IPV)-related visits to emergency room/emergency departments throughout California between July 2005 and December 2008 has found that density of bars is associated with intimate partner violence-related emergency room/emergency department visits. Results will be published in the May 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Most of this research has focused on individual-level risk factors," explained Carol B. Cunradi, senior research scientist at Prevention Research Center and corresponding author for the study. "We wanted to extend this line of research by testing whether alcohol outlet densities are associated with intimate partner violence (IPV)-related emergency room/emergency department visits, while also taking into account other neighborhood-level characteristics previously shown to be linked with risk for intimate partner violence."

Both Cunradi and Scribner noted that emergency room/emergency department visits represent a much more serious level of intimate partner violence (IPV) than police reports.

"Police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) cases may involve threatening behavior, property damage, loud arguments, and physical aggression that may or may not result in injury," said Cunradi. "In contrast, intimate partner violence (IPV)-related emergency room/emergency department visits are, by definition, injuries requiring medical attention."

"The take-home message is that environmental factors, such as alcohol outlet density, affect intimate partner violence (IPV) behaviors resulting in emergency room/emergency department visits," said Cunradi. "However, the absence of individual-level data do not allow us to determine the precise mechanisms that link an increase of one bar per square mile with a three percent increased likelihood of intimate partner violence (IPV)-related emergency room/emergency department visits in a given zip code. There is nonetheless research evidence linking bar attendance with aggressive behavior, both in and out of the bar. Additional research is needed to investigate how bar density results in increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV)-related emergency room/emergency department visits."