Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data suggest that, in the U.S., nearly 1 in 4 women (24.3%) and 1 in 7 men (13.8%) aged 18 and older have suffered severe physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives. This harrowing statistic is compounded by the fact that so many domestic abuse survivors also bear the burden of associated traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
This study will look at the data behind this link, including how often intimate partner violence (IPV) leads to TBIs, age-related factors, racial and ethnic differentials, the healthcare cost of IPV, and where Arizona is placed amid the bigger national picture. As key study data points out, the link between domestic violence and associated brain injuries has been little known – until now.
The Role Of Intimate Partner Violence In Traumatic Brain Injuries
A June 9, 2025, University of Glasgow BMJ study found that 14% of 632 women (aged 40-59) had suffered IPV. In many cases, the associated physical abuse led to repetitive mild TBIs and long‑term associated mental‑health issues.
The risk of such post-IPV mental health issues like depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and PTSD remained, even if domestic violence occurred 27 years earlier. In other words: TBIs due to IPV can have serious, long-term consequences, and yet, they’re so often hidden, underdiagnosed, untreated, or mislabeled.
But the following statistical substantiation suggests more credence now needs to be given to many domestic violence victims who feel they may be suffering from IPV-related TBIs.
- Up to 100% of IPV survivors scrutinized as part of PubMed’s “Traumatic Brain Injury in Intimate Partner Violence” review reported at least one subsequent neurological injury.
- A Brain Injury Association of America study tells us that 36% of domestic violence survivors sustain head, neck, or face injuries, with women 7.5 times more likely to be domestic violence survivors if they seek care for such injuries. A domestic violence survivor suffering from TBI may not be able to realize they have TBI, make safe choices, hold down a job, pay full attention, or properly complete tasks; as a coping mechanism, they may develop a substance use disorder.
- According to a 2019 Ohio survey, over 80% of those looking for medical help following an IPV incident had experienced head trauma or strangulation; 60% reported having blacked out or presented evidence of having experienced a low level of consciousness due to IPV; and 50% had suffered concurrent head trauma and strangulation during an IPV episode.
- A 2025 WINGS report found that 75% of domestic violence survivors often suffer unreported TBIs that lead to PTSD, depression, memory issues, and the inability to carry out many tasks, among other debilitations.
- And, the one in three US adults who have suffered IPV over their lifetime has been extremely cumulatively expensive, with estimated healthcare, legal service, and lost livelihood costs of $3.6 trillion.
These consequences underscore how pervasive and costly intimate partner violence remains nationwide. Yet the depth of this crisis is unevenly distributed across states, especially when filtered through a gendered lens. To illustrate these disparities, the following maps highlight domestic violence rates among women and men across the U.S.
Domestic Violence By Gender: State Maps
For women, the District of Columbia (67%), Alaska (65%), and Wyoming (63%) are notable for high percentages of domestic violence, with Idaho (62%), Arkansas (61.9%), and Nevada (61.7%) also suffering significant levels.
With many of these states, resource scarcity (often covering vast areas) and inadequate victim support networks are often key factors.
For men, the District of Columbia (49%), Vermont (42%), and Georgia (40.4%) are domestic violence hot-spots, with Kansas (38.3%), Louisiana (37.3%), and Ohio (36.7%) also notable for domestic violence. Again, many states face challenges in providing adequate resources and suitably trained enforcement options.
Arizona’s TBI Problem
Although not among the absolute worst states in the U.S., Arizona does have a significant TBI problem. 1.25 million Arizonans (17% of the population, most of them women) will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
A 2021 Arizona-focused PubMed study regarding the link between domestic violence and TBI revealed that IPV was the direct cause of 72,307 concussion (TBI) diagnoses. The study also confirms that sixteen patients died due to IPV-related TBI, and that 61% of TBI victims first sought care for other injuries before a TBI diagnosis was confirmed as the primary injury. Needless to say, Arizona is far from an exception when it comes to IPV-linked TBIs.
Age Group TBI Factors
And when it comes to those most susceptible to TBI hospitalization and death, Arizona’s elderly residents (75 years and older) suffer the highest TBI hospitalization/death rates. That’s according to a Barrow Institute study, which focused on a group with a mean age of mid-30s, made up of 109 females and six males.
Although most studies that consider the link between TBI and IPV usually focus on adult women, children, and adolescents are also affected. Early experience of domestic violence in the home directly correlates to instances of later abuse; 60% of people domestically abused as children went on to be abused again as adults, emphasizing the cyclical nature of IPV and an early susceptibility to long-term TBI.
A Disproportionate Number Of Women Suffer TBIs
Of those admitted to hospital following an IPV incident, the percentage of female victims suffering from a TBI was 77.2%; whereas females made up a significantly smaller (64.6%) percentage of IPV victims not suffering from a TBI. This statistical balance is reversed when we look at the TBI statistical balance for Black patients.
Race and Ethnicity Differentials
CDC data confirms that Black IPV victims comprise 28.9% of TBI cases. Yet they also make up a significantly higher percentage (36.6%) of IPV victims not posted as suffering from TBI. These figures suggest clear racial disparities in reported injury severity and potential misdiagnosis.
Black women also disproportionately report IPV, with 41% of cases due to physical violence, and 18.8% involving rape, suggesting elevated risk for domestic-violence-related TBI.
The American Indian / Alaska Native (AI/AN) community suffers the highest overall TBI hospitalization and death rates among all racial groups.
And AI/AN, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic patients are less likely to receive follow-up care and rehabilitation following a TBI compared to non-Hispanic white patients, a factor that exacerbates mortality and subsequent recovery figures.
Measures To Lessen The IPV/TBI Epidemic
Study data has established that domestic violence survivors are 30% more likely to suffer traumatic brain injury, with one report suggesting that 75% of IPV survivors carry unreported or undetected brain injuries that directly cause long-term psychological consequences.
By understanding the definitive link between domestic violence and traumatic brain injury, we can take more of the necessary measures to improve not only the lives of those who will become victims of IPV and TBI, but those who have for many years suffered its aftereffects – including those who have been misdiagnosed.
As things stand, victims of domestic abuse also suffering from a TBI are three times more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (in 20.9% of cases, as opposed to the 7.5% of cases for non-TBI-afflicted IPV victims), and are also nearly three times more likely to die from their injuries.
BI-afflicted victims are also subject to longer hospital stays and poorer discharge outcomes – including death due to misdiagnosis, which may occur due to several factors, including a lack of healthcare provider awareness, injuries that don’t immediately manifest, and symptom overlap with existing conditions like PTSD – itself often caused by IPV.
In Arizona, the Barrow Neurological Institute runs a support clinic with direct local community links to domestic violence support groups. The clinic aims to increase and improve education around IPV-related TBI: crucial when we remember that around half of Arizona’s TBI victims were initially treated for other injuries before a concussion was correctly diagnosed, and that only 21% of TBI-sufferers sought immediate medical help after being injured.
Furthermore, UA Phoenix and CACTIS/Maricopa partnerships train police and healthcare staff so they can identify TBI in domestic violence cases. Measures such as these kinds of partnerships and Barrow’s support clinic are key to bringing injury and mortality numbers down and setting an example that many other states might do well to follow.
Additionally, there are an increasing number of TBI-centric hospital programs across the U.S. that have begun to screen victims of domestic abuse for potential TBIs, and which often offer peer-led case management.
And, programs that integrate trauma-informed care for domestic violence survivors are proven to reduce revictimization levels and improve survivor safety outcomes. More examples of this kind of support are urgently needed.
As well as the terrible toll on the health of IPV victims, the financial cost of IPV and its aftereffects ($3.6 trillion) emphasizes the urgent need for more diligent, baked-in TBI screening programs.
❝Given its prevalence, these findings highlight domestic violence as a public health issue with potential for long–lasting impacts on brain health. Our work also reinforces the need for more research in this previously neglected area.❞ Professor Willie Stewart
Ultimately, until the link between domestic violence and traumatic brain injury is not only universally acknowledged but medically confronted, domestic violence victims will too often fail to receive the care they need to make the best possible recovery.
Sufficiently resolving the matter will involve a lot of retrogressive work regarding often misdiagnosed, long-term afflicted victims of domestic violence, who may only much later (27 years later in some cases) present TBI-linked manifestations like PTSD, depression, and cognitive decline. But to do those victims overdue medical justice, in Arizona and across the country, such work is entirely necessary.
At Suzuki Law Offices, we’re committed to providing exceptional legal service. We’re also catastrophic injury experts, so if you’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury, we can help you with your injury claim. When life gets tough, come to the tougher law firm!