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Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Jethá, EAR; Lynch, CA; Houry, DE; Rodrigues, MA; Chilundo, B; Sasser, SM; Wright, DW
Published in: J Emerg Trauma Shock
July 2011

BACKGROUND: Family violence (FV) is a common, yet often invisible, cause of violence. To date, most literature on risk factors for family, interpersonal and sexual violence is from high-income countries and might not apply to Mozambique. AIMS: To determine the individual risk factors for FV in a cohort of patients seeking care for injuries at three health centers in Maputo, Mozambique. SETTING AND DESIGN: A prospective multi-center study of patients presenting to the emergency department for injuries from violence inflicted by a direct family member in Maputo, Mozambique, was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who agreed to participate and signed the informed consent were verbally administered a pilot-tested blank-item questionnaire to ascertain demographic information, perpetrator of the violence, historical information regarding prior abuse, and information on who accompanied the victim and where they received their initial evaluation. De-identified data were entered into SPSS 13.0 (SPSS, version 13.0) and analyzed for frequencies. RESULTS: During the 8-week study period, 1206 assault victims presented for care, of whom 216 disclosed the relationship of the assailant, including 92 being victims of FV (42.6%). The majority of FV victims were women (63.0%) of age group 15-34 years (76.1%) and were less educated (84%) compared to national averages. Of the patients who reported assault on a single occasion, most were single (58.8%), while patients with multiple assaults were mostly married (63.2%). Most commonly, the spouse was the aggressor (50%) and a relative accompanied the victim seeking care (54.3%). Women most commonly sought police intervention prior to care (63.2%) in comparison to men (35.3%). CONCLUSION: In Mozambique, FV affects all ages, sexes and cultures, but victims seeking care for FV were more commonly women who were less educated and poorer.

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Published In

J Emerg Trauma Shock

DOI

EISSN

0974-519X

Publication Date

July 2011

Volume

4

Issue

3

Start / End Page

369 / 373

Location

India

Related Subject Headings

  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences
  • 1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology
 

Citation

APA
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Jethá, E. A. R., Lynch, C. A., Houry, D. E., Rodrigues, M. A., Chilundo, B., Sasser, S. M., & Wright, D. W. (2011). Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique. J Emerg Trauma Shock, 4(3), 369–373. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2700.83866
Jethá, Eunice Abdul Remane, Catherine A. Lynch, Debra E. Houry, Maria Alexendra Rodrigues, Baltazar Chilundo, Scott M. Sasser, and David W. Wright. “Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique.J Emerg Trauma Shock 4, no. 3 (July 2011): 369–73. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2700.83866.
Jethá EAR, Lynch CA, Houry DE, Rodrigues MA, Chilundo B, Sasser SM, et al. Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique. J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2011 Jul;4(3):369–73.
Jethá, Eunice Abdul Remane, et al. “Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique.J Emerg Trauma Shock, vol. 4, no. 3, July 2011, pp. 369–73. Pubmed, doi:10.4103/0974-2700.83866.
Jethá EAR, Lynch CA, Houry DE, Rodrigues MA, Chilundo B, Sasser SM, Wright DW. Characteristic of victims of family violence seeking care at health centers in Maputo, Mozambique. J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2011 Jul;4(3):369–373.

Published In

J Emerg Trauma Shock

DOI

EISSN

0974-519X

Publication Date

July 2011

Volume

4

Issue

3

Start / End Page

369 / 373

Location

India

Related Subject Headings

  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences
  • 1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology