Citation

Híjar-Medina MC, Avila-Burgos L, Valdez-Santiago R. Salud Ment. (Mex) 2006; 29(6): 57-64.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatria)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Violence is recognized as a Public Health problem around the world. In the specific case of Intimate Partner Abuse, which occurs at home, women are particularly vulnerable to be abused by their partners. In Mexico, as in other countries in Latin America, the systematic study of violence towards women is incipient. Objective: The main objective is to identify the factors associated with the health services utilization by women, because of partner abuse. Methodology: A cross-sectional design was used, including women users of health care services on public institutions all over the country in 2003. Results: From 24,958 women that utilized public health services 21% reported to have had a partner abuse event in the last year. From these, only 7.3% utilized health services. The more important variables were: age between 25 to 34 years old, elementary schooling and women having a job. Discussion and conclusions: There is a low percentage of abused women injured that utilize formal medical care. This is a very important result for the identification of prevention and control strategies of the partner abuse problem in the health services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)