Citation

Kopcavar Gucek N, Svab I, Selic P. Croat. Med. J. 2011; 52(6): 728-734.

Affiliation

Polona Selic, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Poljanski nasip 58, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, polona.selic@siol.net.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, University of Zagreb Medical School, Publisher Medicinska Naklada)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

22180272

PMCID

PMC3243325

Abstract

Aim. To estimate the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence in primary care patients in Slovenia and determine the associated factors. Methods. In a systematic cross-sectional survey, 70 physicians from 70 family medicine practices from urban and rural settings conducted interviews with every fifth patient from January 15 to February 15, 2010. Results. Of 2075 patients (98.8% response rate), 372 (17.9%) were exposed to psychological or physical violence in the family in the last five years. Factors that increased the chances of exposure to psychological and physical violence were female sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.24-4.76; Plt;0.001; OR, 4.52; 95% CI, 2.83-7.20; Plt;0.001, respectively) and formal divorce (OR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.35-3.21; P=0.001; OR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.73-4.29; Plt;0.001, respectively). Factors that decreased the chances of exposure to psychological violence were age of 65 years or above (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.96, P=0.035) and single status (OR, 0.43; 95% CI 0.21-0.86, P=0.016), while age of 65 years or above (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23-0.79, P=0.007) and parenting of two children (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29-0.90, P=0.020) decreased the chances of exposure to physical violence. Conclusions. We found the rate of exposure to psychological and physical violence of 17.9%, which indicates that this problem is a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed by adequate measures. The identified risk and protective factors could serve as a valid guidance for family physicians dealing with physical violence.

Language: en