Lifetime Prevalence of Emotional/Psychological Abuse among Qualified Female Healthcare Providers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the lifetime prevalence of emotional/psychological abuse among married female healthcare providers in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 350 married female nurses and doctors, recruited from three tertiary healthcare hospitals (one public and two private). This study used the self administered modified truncated WHO multi-country questionnaire. Descriptive and univariate analysis was performed. Of the total sample of 350 female married healthcare providers, 97.7% (n = 342) were reported with one or more forms of domestic violence at some point in their married life, whereby 62.6% (n = 214) lifetime prevalence of emotional abuse was found due to any forms of violence. The univariate analysis showed that those female healthcare providers who had done their diploma were more prone to emotional abuse 46.7% (n = 100). And, nurses experienced more emotional abuse 57.9% (n = 124) in their life than doctors. Moreover, there was a significant difference of emotional abuse among those participants' husband who used and do not use alcohol (p = .009). The most common study participants responses against emotional abuse were: 62% (n = 212), verbally fighting back, 15.2% (n = 52) keeping quiet, 27.2% (n = 93) talking to husband, family/friends, 7% (n = 24) returning to parents' home and 5.8% (n = 20) attempting suicide. Domestic violence leads to emotional scars and should be considered as an inhuman act. However, its prevalence exists in every culture and more so in underdeveloped, economically challenged cultures. Emotional abuse is frequent among nurses and doctors. Socio-demographic factors of women have been identified as one of the determinants of emotional abuse among healthcare professionals. Future research should investigate emotional abuse pat-* Corresponding author.A. J. Khan et al. 175terns not only for professional women but also for housewives.

“It happens to clinicians too”: an Australian prevalence study of intimate partner and family violence against health professionals

“…None of these studies were Australian. The lifetime prevalence rate ranged between 3.7% (doctors in the United States) [ 17 ] and 97.7% (doctors and nurses in Pakistan) [ 18 ]. A large study conducted in a country with a comparable population prevalence rate to Australia is that by Bracken et al (2010) in the United States [ 12 ], who surveyed 1981 nurses and found that the lifetime physical or sexual IPV prevalence rate was 25%.…”

“…The limitations of the few studies on this issue include: a lack of rigor in the assessment of IPV [ 12 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 20 , 22 ], low or unpublished response rates [ 20 , 23 , 26 ], small sample sizes [ 21 , 23 , 24 ], or publication ten or more years ago [ 15 – 17 , 24 , 25 ]. Another feature of these studies is their diversity: six of the studies were conducted in countries where a language other than English is the official language [ 15 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 23 ], and in some countries prevalence studies were hard to generalise to the Australian context since the population prevalence was substantially higher than reported in the Australian community [ 18 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Violence Against Women: A Gender Issue And Role Of Educational Institutions At Secondary Level In District

“…The abusive behavior started delicately, propelled and pushed way the survivor from the family, as time passed it heat up and appear harmful. According to the concluding remarks of Khan et al (2014), it is existed in every culture, religion and society but third world country suffering more than developed countries. It is observed that controlling behavior of husband and mother-inlaw is also very important factor.…”

“You can’t swim well if there is a weight dragging you down”: cross-sectional study of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and child abuse prevalence against Australian nurses, midwives and carers

“…Across all the previous studies, the prevalence of DFV against nurses has most commonly reflected broader community DFV prevalence in the places where the research was conducted [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 22 , 25 , 27 , 30 ]. However, where a difference between DFV against nurse participants and the general community was detected, it was more likely that nurses reported a higher prevalence of DFV [ 8 , 9 , 18 , 23 , 24 ] compared to the general community. Only two studies have investigated the perpetration of violence against a partner by nurses [ 21 , 24 ], and only one separated their results by gender, finding that 16.0% of 45 men and 21.4% of 294 women reported that they had ever perpetrated physical IPV [ 24 ].…”

“…These studies were not without limitations and these included: small sample sizes ( n < 100) [ 16 , 26 , 27 , 31 , 32 ]; long recall period (> 12-months) [ 16 , 18 – 23 , 26 , 28 – 32 ]; lack of use of a validated IPV measure [ 17 , 21 , 22 , 31 ]; low (< 10%) or unpublished response rate [ 8 , 18 , 21 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 32 ], and results not separated by gender [ 21 ]. Only one study has been conducted in Australia and utilised a small sample of 471 women health professionals [ 9 ].…”