Physical violence, self rated health, and morbidity: is gender significant for victimisation?

Abstract

Study objective: To analyse gender differences in associations between physical violence and self rated health and self reported morbidity among a random sample of adults in Denmark. Design and setting: Two questions on self rated health and self reported morbidity respectively, were obtained from a cross sectional national health interview survey conducted among 12 028 adults (16 years +) in Denmark in 2000. A question on six different forms of physical violence was obtained from a supplementary self administered questionnaire given to the same sample. The reporting period for experienced physical violence was the past 12 months and for morbidity symptoms, the past 14 days. Main results: Men aged 16-24 years were significantly more likely to have experienced violence than women (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 2.3 to 4.2). Female victims of physical violence were significantly more likely to rate their health as poor (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.41 to 2.89) and to report anxiety (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.35 to 3.37), depression (OR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.55 to 3.60), and stomach ache (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.01 to 2.47) than female non-victims. Male victims of physical violence were only significantly more likely to report stomach ache (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.03 to 2.89) than male non-victims. Conclusions: Associations between physical violence and poor self rated health and self reported morbidity were found to be significant for women, but not for men. It is probable that gender differences in experiences of violence, as well as gender differences in health related self perception, contribute to a gender specific process of victimisation. Improved knowledge about the relation between gender specific violence and victimisation as a gender specific consequence is essential for targeting violence prevention.

Violence Against Young Men and Women: A Vital Health Issue

“…Extremely conflicting results about the prevalence of dating violence have been reported, with one-year prevalence rates ranging from 9 to 37% for young women and 6 to 36% for young men, probably partly because dating violence has not been strictly defined, but also because the questions relating to violence have differed greatly [11,12,15,16,20,21,34,37]. In this study, the prevalence of violence was higher among the young men, but, as has been pointed out earlier, the aftermath appeared to be worse for the young women, with higher odds ratios for most health outcomes and specifically for health care utilisation.…”

“…In our opinion, this is equally important for young men and women, who are the ones most frequently exposed to violence [11,13,39]. It also seems apparent that questions about violence should be included in health surveys aimed at young people.…”

“…In that study, both sexes were analysed together. Some previous studies have identified more severe physical and psychological consequences for young women exposed to partner violence compared with young men [11,20,34]. The vast majority of the men exposed to violence in our study had been subjected to violence in a public place and this violence was therefore probably not inflicted by an intimate partner, while 40% of the women exposed to violence had been exposed to violence in a domestic setting and a higher percentage may possibly have been the victims of violence inflicted by an intimate partner.…”

“…There is no strict definition of dating violence, but it is often described as physical violence, sometimes also including emotional or sexual violence, by a boyfriend, dating partner or intimate partner [13,16,18,20]. Quite a few population-based studies of the association between violence and health outcomes in young men and women have been published so far, but those that have been published have mainly dealt with dating violence and mental or sexual health [11,13,15,16,18,[21][22][23][24]. Moreover, socioeconomic correlates have rarely been reported or adjusted for in earlier studies [13,18,22].…”

“…Occasional studies have demonstrated mainly mental but also to some extent physical health consequences of intimate partner violence in men as well [10]. However, only a few reports on violence against teenagers and young women and men have been published, apart from studies relating to dating violence, which are *Address correspondence to this author at the Management Staff, Department of Public Health SE-871 85 Härnösand, Sweden; Tel: +46 61180078; E-mail: niclas.olofsson@lvn.se fairly abundant [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. There is no strict definition of dating violence, but it is often described as physical violence, sometimes also including emotional or sexual violence, by a boyfriend, dating partner or intimate partner [13,16,18,20].…”