141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

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Intimate partner physical violence experiences of saudi arabian women

Monday, November 4, 2013

Halah Eldoseri, PhD, MSc. Science , Health Services Research, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Kimberly AdamsTufts, DNP, WHNP-BC, FAAN , School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Introduction: Intimate partner physical violence against women (IPPVAW) is a serious public health concern with global implications. The Ecological Model provides a comprehensive framework for the investigation of factors associated with IPPVAW. Studies addressing IPPVAW in Saudi Arabia are limited and have not explored risk and protective factors for IPPVAW. This was a cross-sectional study investigating personal, interpersonal, community, and societal factors associated with IPPVAW as well as perceived health outcomes. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 200 ever-married women who attended six primary healthcare centers (PHC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Structured personal interviews were conducted with consenting women using an adapted version of World Health Organizations survey (version 10.0) for violence against women. Results: Nearly 46 percent of women were subjected to IPPVAW. While 18.5% of those who reported IPPVAW also reported IPPVAW-related injuries. Alcohol and drug use by husbands, marital conflict, male dominance, husband's employment status, and husband's involvement with physical fights with other men were significantly associated with IPPVAW (p<0.05). Most women accepted physical chastisement of wives (93%). Significant numbers of those who reported IPPVAW did not disclose the real cause of IPPVAW-related injuries to healthcare professionals. Women who reported IPPVAW had significant increases in suicidal thoughts (p<0.000), in perceptions of recent pain & discomfort (p =0.046), and in recent medication use for sadness (p=0.009) when compared to those who did not report IPPVAW. Conclusion: IPPVAW in Saudi Arabia requires better management in PHC settings to identify victims of abuse and to improve service provision.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Provision of health care to the public
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the risk and protective factors for IPPVAW within the sociocultural context of Saudi Arabia. List the main adverse physical health outcomes of IPPVAW. Identify contextual barriers to accessing resources for IPPVAW in the primary healthcare setting. Assess the implications for designing adequate prevention, screening, and intervention strategies for IPPVAW in healthcare settings.

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: The content of the paper is based on my PhD dissertation work, in which, I have conducted the required global and regional literature review on the topic, collected and analyzed the data obtained from women in Saudi Arabia, and submitted the findings in my dissertation as a requirement for graduation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.