Prevalence of sexual assault among women patients seen in family practice clinics.

Objective: This study assesses the prevalence and characteristics of sexual assault among women patients attending two family medicine residency training clinics.

Methods: Two hundred four consecutive women patients 18 years and older were asked to complete a questionnaire; one hundred eighty-eight (92.2%) agreed.

Results: Fifty-four (28.7%) of the 188 women patients reported some type of sexual assault. Approximately 15% of patients reported being victims of rape; 8% reported attempted rape, and 5.3% reported forced sexual contact. Twelve (41.4%) of the 29 rape victims indicated that they had been raped more than once. Only 24% of rape and attempted rape victims reported the incident to police, 18.2% sought medical attention, and 21% sought counseling.

Conclusions: Family physicians should be aware of the prevalence of sexual assault in their practices and should understand proper questioning, management, counseling, and referral of patients.