@article {Casteel87, author = {C Casteel and S L Martin and J B Smith and K K Gurka and L L Kupper}, title = {National study of physical and sexual assault among women with disabilities}, volume = {14}, number = {2}, pages = {87--90}, year = {2008}, doi = {10.1136/ip.2007.016451}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Objective: To examine the association between the level of disability impairment and physical and sexual assault in a sample of US women at least 18 years of age. Design, setting and participants: Retrospective longitudinal study of 6273 non-institutionalized US women from 8000 women participating in the 1995{\textendash}1996 National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey. Main outcome measure: Women{\textquoteright}s experiences of physical and sexual assault in the 12 months before the NVAW interview. Results: Most women reported having no disability (n = 5008, 79.8\%) and/or not experiencing an assault in the year before their interview (n = 6018, 95.9\%). Less than 5\% (n = 280) reported having a disability that severely limited daily activities, and 15.7\% (n = 985) reported having a disability that moderately limited activities. Less than 4\% (n = 218) of the women reported a physical-only assault, and less than 1\% (n = 37) reported being sexually assaulted. Women with severe disability impairments were four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women with no reported disabilities (RR = 4.0, 95\% CI 1.5 to 10.6). Little difference in the risk of sexual assault was found between women with moderate disability impairments and those reporting no disabilities (RR = 1.0, 95\% CI 0.3 to 2.8). Women with severe (RR = 1.6, 95\% CI 0.9 to 3.0) and moderate (RR = 1.2, 95\% CI 0.8 to 1.9) disability impairments were at greater risk, although not quite significantly so, of physical-only assault than were women without a disability. Conclusion: The findings suggest that women with disabilities that severely limit activities of daily living are at increased risk of sexual assault.}, issn = {1353-8047}, URL = {https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/14/2/87}, eprint = {https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/14/2/87.full.pdf}, journal = {Injury Prevention} }