Factors associated with suffering domestic violence in women during the last semester of the pandemic in Honduras- Central America

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health deterioration had already been reported prior to the pandemic, resulting in domestic violence, but this has not yet been reported in the pandemic in Central America. Objective: To determine the factors associated with the occurrence of domestic violence in the last half year of the pandemic in Honduras. Methodology: Analytical and retrospective cross-sectional study, carried out through a survey in 17 departments of Honduras, in hospitals and first level health care centers. The main variable was obtained through the question "if you suffered domestic violence in the last 6 months", being the possible answer verbal, physical, psychological. Descriptive and analytical results were obtained. Results: Of the 8442 Hondurans surveyed, 4.2% (352) perceived verbal violence, 1.9% (165) physical violence and 1.3% (113) psychological violence. In the multivariate analysis, it was found that women (p=0.001), those with a history of alcohol (p=0.002) or drug use (p=0.015), previous mental illness (p<0.001), mild (p<0.001), moderate (p<0.001) or severe (p=0.025) depression (p<0.001) had experienced more domestic violence; On the contrary, there was less perception of domestic violence at higher economic income (all p-values were <0.029), among single (p=0.003) and married people (p<0.001). Discussion: Important factors were found to be associated with suffering from violence, especially social factors and a history of mental illness, as well as alcohol and drug use in the home