A study published in Psychiatric Services concluded that women who had a history of physical and/or sexual abuse were less likely to receive preventive healthcare than other women. Preventative healthcare was defined as having a physical examination, a Pap smear and a breast examination within the past 5 years, and a mammogram for women over 40.
The study included 47 women who were receiving treatment for serious mental illness at a single urban mental health center. Approximately one-third of the women had been raped as adults, one-half had suffered physical abused at some time in their lives, and over one-third had been sexually abused as children.
