Online Supplementary Material

Chen P, Rovi S, Washington J, Jacobs A, Vega M, Pan K, Johnson MS. Randomized comparison of 3
methods to screen for domestic violence in family practice. Ann Fam Med. 2007;5(5):430-435.

http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/5/5/430/DC1

Supplemental Appendix. Screening Instruments and Questions on Patient and

Clinician Comfort With Screening Tools
________________________________________________________________________

HITS*

1. How often does your partner physically hurt you?

2. How often does your partner insult you?
3. How often does your partner threaten you with harm?
4. How often does your partner scream or curse at you?

Answers to each item of HITS

1 Never 1 Rarely 1 Sometimes 1 Fairly often 1 Frequently

Questions and answers to comfort level with each item of HITS asked in the post-screening
survey
Are you comfortable answering this question?
1 Not at all comfortable 1 Somewhat uncomfortable 1 Comfortable 1 Very comfortable

Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST)

WAST-Short†

1. In general, how would you describe your relationship?

1 A lot of tension 1 Some tension 1No tension

2. Do you and your partner work out arguments with:

1Great difficulty 1 Some difficulty 1 No difficulty

The remaining 6 items of WAST asked in the post-screening survey

3. Do arguments ever result in you feeling down or bad about yourself?

4. Do arguments ever result in hitting, kicking, or pushing?
5. Do you ever feel frightened by what your partner says or does?
6. Has your partner ever abused you physically?
7. Has your partner ever abused you emotionally?
8. Has your partner ever abused you sexually?

Answers to items 3-8 of WAST

1 Often 1 Sometimes 1 Never

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 Online Supplementary Data
http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/5/5/430/DC1

Questions and answers to comfort level with each item of WAST asked in the post-
screening survey

Are you comfortable answering this question?

1 Not at all comfortable 1 Somewhat uncomfortable 1 Comfortable 1 Very comfortable
________________________________________________________________________

Reprinted with permission from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, www.stfm.org. Brown JB, Lent B, Brett PJ, Sas G,
Pederson LL. Development of the Woman Abuse Screening Tool for use in family practice. Fam Med. 1996 Jun;28(6):422-
428. Copyright@2003 Kevin Sherin, MD, Orange County Health Dept, 6101 Lake Ellenor Drive, Orlando, FL 32809.
Kevin_Sherin@doh.state.fl.us.

* Answers were summed to form an interval scale of the total HITS score, which could range from 4 to 20. A cutoff score of
10.5 was used to indicate domestic violence exposure. HITS accurately classified 91% of nonvictims and 96% of victims.1
Previously the authors found that HITS had a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 99% compared with the Index of Spouse
Abuse–Physical Scale.2
† Women met the criteria for domestic violence exposure if they answered "a lot of tension/great difficulty" to either
question. In a previous study, WAST-Short correctly classified 92% of victims and 100% of nonvictims.3 Another study
reported a sensitivity of 47% and a specificity of 96% compared with the Composite Abuse Scale.4

References
1. Sherin KM, Sinacore JM, Li XQ, Zitter RE, Shakil A. HITS: a short domestic violence screening tool for use in a family
practice setting. Fam Med. 1998;30(7):508-512.
2. Chen PH, Rovi S, Vega M, Jacobs A, Johnson MS. Screening for domestic violence in a predominantly Hispanic clinical
setting. Fam Pract. 2005;22(6):617-623.
3. Brown JB, Lent B, Schmidt G, Sas G. Application of the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and WAST-Short in the
family practice setting. J Fam Pract. 2000;49(10):896-903
4. MacMillan HL, Wathen CN, Jamieson E, et al. Approaches to screening for intimate partner violence in health care
settings: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2006;296(5):530-536.

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