Validation and Adaptation of the Danger Assessment-5 (DA-5): A Brief Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment

5 years ago

Validation and Adaptation of the Danger Assessment-5 (DA-5): A Brief Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment

Carolyn Snider, Jill Theresa Messing, Jacquelyn C. Campbell

Aims To assess the predictive validity of the DA-5 with the addition of a strangulation item in evaluating the risk of an intimate partner violence (IPV) victim being nearly killed by an intimate partner. Background The DA-5 was developed as a short form of the Danger Assessment for use in healthcare settings, including emergency and urgent care settings. Analyzing data from a sample of IPV survivors who had called the police for domestic violence, the DA-5 was tested with and without an item on strangulation, a potentially fatal and medically damaging IPV tactic used commonly by dangerous abusers. Design A heterogeneous sample of 1081 women recruited by police between 2009-2013 at the scene of a domestic violence call and interviewed by researchers at baseline; 619 (57.3%) were contacted and re-interviewed after an average of 7 months. Methods The predictive validity of the DA-5 was assessed for the outcome of severe or near lethal IPV re-assault using sensitivity, specificity and ROC curve analysis techniques. Results The original DA-5 was found to be accurate (AUC=.68), equally accurate with the strangulation item from the original DA substituted (AUC=.68) and slightly more accurate (but not a statistically significant difference) if multiple strangulation is assessed. Conclusion We recommend that the DA-5 with the strangulation item be used for a quick assessment of homicide or near homicide risk among IPV survivors. A protocol for immediate referral and examination for further injury from a strangulation should be adopted for IPV survivors at high risk. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1111/jan.13459