In short:
An Australian-first study has found evidence of memory changes among women who experienced more than six brain injuries as a result of concussions and strangulation from intimate partner violence.
The Monash University researchers say women who experience violence are less likely to be diagnosed and treated for brain injury compared to sportspeople.
What’s next:
Advocates say there needs to be more awareness about the risks among health professionals and women who experience family violence.
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The peer-reviewed study, led by Monash University researchers and published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, was based on comparative cognitive assessments of 146 women, comparing a group of healthy controls with a cohort who had experienced partner violence more than six months earlier.
Alfred Hospital clinical neuropsychologist and study author Dr Jennifer Makovec Knight said some people may not realise that strangulation — including consensual strangulation — can cause different kinds of brain injuries.
There has been a growing focus on the safe treatment of brain injuries, particularly in sports, given increasing evidence that even mild concussions, and especially repeated ones, can have long-term impacts.
A 2018 study by Brain Injury Australia found 40 per cent of family violence survivors who attended Victorian hospitals over a 10-year period had sustained a brain injury.
But that data only related to those who attended hospital.
The Monash-led study found women who suffered more than six suspected brain injuries (concussions and/or strangulations) at the hands of a partner had worse scores on memory and learning tests.
That was even after controlling for factors like age, mental health conditions and substance use.
It also found the rates of strangulation were “alarmingly high” — more than 80 per cent of the cohort with repeated brain injuries (more than six) had experienced both head hits and strangulation.
She said that was an important finding — particularly when, as the researchers acknowledge, cognitive changes may be weaponised by perpetrators to claim a survivor of violence is not capable of decision-making or parenting, for example.
Dr Makovic Knight said her hope was that this study could prompt tailored screening and treatment of concussion and strangulation-linked brain injuries for women who experience intimate partner violence.