Prevalence of Domestic Violence Related Brain Injury: Data from the European project BR.A.I.N.

Research Objectives: To determine the prevalence of females 18 years and older in Cyprus who have experienced blows to the head and/or neck, and/or strangulation and/or severe shaking in the context of domestic violence and might resulted in acquired brain injury (ABI).

Design: Descriptive Research Design.

Setting: Participants were female victims of domestic violence who called anonymously during November and December of 2021 at 1440; the helpline of the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in Family (SPAVO) in Cyprus.

Participants: 108 females over the age of 18 experiencing domestic violence called the helpline. From those females 75 (70.8%) reported physical abuse.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Four questions were asked for the purposes of the study regarding: 1) attempted strangulation 2) head and/or neck injuries and/or severe shaken 3) loss of consciousness, dizziness, loss of memory 4) alterations in everyday life due to these incidences.

Results: Out of 75 females who are experiencing physical abuse, 14 (18.9%) reported attempted strangulation, 6 (8.1 %) reported blows to the head, 5 (6.8%) reported severe shaken and 6 (8.1 %) reported both. From those, one individual reported loss of consciousness during the incident/s, 6 (8.1%) reported feeling dizzy and 2 individuals (2.7%) reported combination of symptoms. Also, from those individuals one person reported persistent physical difficulties in everyday life (e.g., fatigue and sleep difficulties) along with psychological/emotional difficulties associated with these incidents; another individual reported persistent psychological/emotional difficulties associated with these incidents.

Conclusions: Data on prevalence of TBI among intimate partner/domestic violence survivors are emerging but are still in preliminary stage. BR.A.I.N project is ongoing and contribute to this effort by collecting data from the helpline 1440 of SPAVO in Cyprus. Identification of TBI in this context is important to ensure patients will receive appropriate intervention and referrals.

Author(s) Disclosures: None disclosed.