BackgroundThe prevalence of domestic violence remains unacceptably high with numerous consequences ranging from psychological to maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity outcomes in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to identify factors that increased the likelihood of an event of domestic violence as reported by ever married Ghanaian women.MethodsData from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) was analysed using a multivariate logistic model and risk factors were obtained using the forward selection procedure.ResultsOf the 1524 ever married women in this study, 33.6 % had ever experienced domestic violence. The risk of ever experiencing domestic violence was 35 % for women who reside in urban areas. Risk of domestic violence was 41 % higher for women whose husbands ever experienced their father beating their mother. Women whose mother ever beat their father were three times more likely to experience domestic violence as compared to women whose mother did not beat their father. The risk of ever experiencing domestic violence was 48 % less likely for women whose husbands had higher than secondary education as compared to women whose husbands never had any formal education. Women whose husbands drink alcohol were 2.5 times more likely to experience domestic violence as compared to women whose husbands do not drink alcohol.ConclusionPlace of residence, alcohol use by husband and family history of violence do increase a woman’s risk of ever experiencing domestic violence. Higher than secondary education acted as a protective buffer against domestic violence. Domestic violence against women is still persistent and greater efforts should be channelled into curtailing it by using a multi-stakeholder approach and enforcing stricter punishments to perpetrators.

Aims:To investigate the probability of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at different body mass index levels compared to matched non-diabetic controls in a multi-ethnic population. Materials and methods:This was a case-control study of 90 367 patients with incident diabetes and 362 548 age-sex-ethnicity matched controls from UK primary care. The probability of developing T2DM was estimated. (29%) (all P < .01). Within the 18 to 70-year age range, South Asian males and females had a significantly higher probability of developing diabetes in the continuously measured BMI range of 18 to 30 kg/m 2 , compared to White Europeans and African-Caribbeans. Across all age groups <70 years, South Asians and African-Caribbeans had a significantly higher probability of developing T2DM in the normal weight and overweight categories, compared to White Europeans. However, this risk pattern of developing diabetes was reversed amongst the obese in all age groups. Conclusion:Risk patterns of developing diabetes at different levels of obesity varies among ethnic groups across all ages, while South Asians and African-Caribbeans carry the highest risk at a younger age and at lower adiposity burden. K E Y W O R D Sbody mass index, matched case-control study, multi-ethnic comparisons, probability of developing type 2 diabetes

AimsTo estimate the risk of developing long-term major cardiovascular and renal complications in relation to levels of body mass index (BMI) in a population of White European (WE), African-Caribbean (AC), and South Asian (SA) patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Materials and methodsPatients with new diagnosis of T2DM, aged ≥ 18 years from January 2000 (n = 69,436) and their age-sex-ethnicity matched non-diabetic controls (n = 272,190) were identified from UK primary care database. Incidence rates ratios (IRRs) for non-fatal major cardiovascular events (MACE) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with T2DM compared to controls were estimated using multivariate Mantel-Cox model.ResultsAmong normal weight patients with T2DM, WEs had significantly higher prevalence of cardiovascular multi-morbidity (95% CI 9.5, 11.3), compared to SAs (95% CI 4.8, 9.5). AC and SA overweight and obese patients had similar prevalence, while obese WEs had significantly higher prevalence. During a median 7 years of follow-up, risk of MACE was significantly higher for overweight (95% CI of IRR 1.50, 2.46) and obese (95% CI of IRR 1.49, 2.43) SAs compared to their WE counterparts. However, similar risk levels were observed for normal weight WEs and SAs, respectively. Risk of CKD was higher and uniform for BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 amongst WEs and ACs, whereas only overweight patients had significantly higher risk of CKD amongst SA [IRR 2.08 (95% CI 1.49, 2.93)].ConclusionRisk of MACE/CKD varies over levels of BMI within each ethnic group, with overweight SAs having a disproportionate risk of CKD.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12933-018-0712-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.