Knowledge and perception of domestic violence among primary care physicians and nurses: A comparative study

Available online 16 January 2012

Peer review under responsibility of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine.

Figures & data

Table 1 General characters of participating physicians and nurses.

Characteristics	Physicians		Nurses		Significance
	No.	%	No.	%
Age
<30	67	11.9	239	24.2	163.32
30–39	212	37.5	553	56.0	<0.001
⩾40	286	50.6	196	19.8
Gender
Males	265	46.9	179	18.1	145.88
Females	300	53.1	809	81.9	<0.001
Nationality
Kuwaiti	244	43.2	88	8.9	251.29
Non-Kuwaiti	321	56.8	900	90.1	<0.001
Marital status
Single	55	9.7	132	13.4	6.42
Married	493	87.3	838	84.8	0.04
Widowed/divorced	17	3.0	18	1.8
Qualification
Bachelor	179	31.7	848	85.8	470.54
Higher	386	68.3	140	14.2	<0.001
Experience (year)
<5	107	18.9	244	24.7	23.16
5–9	122	21.6	529	53.5	<0.001
⩾10	337	59.4	215	21.8
Job
Assistant (registrar/nurse)	157	27.8	14	1.4	438.35
Registrar/nurse	218	38.6	306	31.0	<0.001
Senior registrar/nurse staff	129	22.8	656	66.4
Specialist/head nurse/higher	61	10.8	12	1.2
Monthly income (KD)
<1000	101	17.9	963	97.5	1060.26
1000–1499	239	42.3	25	2.5	<0.001
1500–1999	101	17.9	0	0.0
⩾2000	124	21.9	0	0.0
Total	565	100.0	988	100.0

Table 2 Prevalence of domestic violence in opinion of the participating physicians and nurses.

	Physicians		Nurses
	Prevalence	(%)	Prevalence	(%)
<30	307	54.3	367	37.1
⩾30	162	28.7	277	28.0
Do not know	96	17.0	344	34.8
Total	565	100.0	988	100.0

X² = 64.85, P < 0.001.

Table 3 Participating physicians and nurses’ perception of statements as types of domestic violence.

Statement	Physicians (n = 565)		Nurses (n = 988)		X^2 (P)
	Agree/strongly agree (%)	Mean score	Agree/strongly agree (%)	Mean score
Deprivation/neglect
Keeping women from seeing her friends	49.2	3.2 ± 1.3	46.8	3.3 ± 1.4	0.79 (0.37)
Restricting women from contacting with family relatives	66.2	3.6 ± 1.3	58.4	3.5 ± 1.5	9.20 (0.002)
Insisting to know where are women all the times	40.4	3.1 ± 1.2	49.4	3.4 ± 1.3	11.82 (0.001)
Ignoring or treating women indifferently	53.9	3.4 ± 1.3	44.4	3.1 ± 1.5	13.42 (<0.001)
Getting angry when women talk with other men	40.9	3.1 ± 1.2	38.4	3.0 ± 1.4	0.68 (0.41)
Suspicion of unfaithfulness of women	51.9	3.3 ± 1.4	42.3	3.0 ± 1.6	13.21 (<0.001)
Asking permission before seeking health care	42.5	3.1 ± 1.3	44.2	3.2 ± 1.5	0.40 (0.53)
Men have the right to enforce women to wear suitable clothes	38.4	3.1 ± 1.3	42.7	3.2 ± 1.4	2.75 (0.10)
Obligation of women to share in the house expenses	29.8	2.9 ± 1.4	28.7	2.7 ± 1.4	0.21 (0.65)
Men should be the decision makers in home management	31.7	2.7 ± 1.3	30.3	2.9 ± 1.3	0.29 (0.59)
Percentage score	62.1 ± 13.2		62.5 ± 14.1		t = 0.60, P = 0.44
Psychological
Insulting women and make them feel bad about themselves	74.1	2.8 ± 1.3	60.7	3.5 ± 1.5	28.74 (<0.001)
Humiliating women in front of other people	79.8	3.9 ± 1.2	63.6	3.6 ± 1.5	44.31 (<0.001)
Intimidating women on purpose	84.6	4.0 ± 1.3	70.7	3.8 ± 1.4	37.59 (<0.001)
Threatening or hurting women	86.4	4.3 ± 1.2	75.9	4.0 ± 1.4	24.33 (<0.001)
Percentage score	82.4 ± 18.3		74.3 ± 20.4		t = 7.76, P < 0.001
Physical
Slapping or throwing women with something that could hurt	99.8	4.8 ± 0.4	99.3	4.7 ± 0.5	1.98 (0.16)
Pushing or shoving women	97.1	4.7 ± 0.5	97.4	4.6 ± 0.6	0.06 (0.82)
Hitting with a fist	99.3	4.8 ± 0.4	99.4	4.7 ± 0.5	0.06 (0.81)
Kicking, dragging or beating women	99.7	4.9 ± 0.4	99.7	4.7 ± 0.5	0.03 (0.87)
Chocking or burning women	99.8	4.9 ± 0.3	99.7	4.7 ± 0.5	0.22 (0.64)
Threatening with a knife, stick, gun	99.8	4.9 ± 0.4	99.1	4.7 ± 0.5	0.04 (0.84)
Percentage score	96.5 ± 6.6		93.8 ± 8.3		t = 6.81, P < 0.001
Sexual
Forcing women to have sex against their will by the husband	92.8	4.3 ± 0.9	93	4.2 ± 0.9	0.01 (0.91)
Raping by foreigners	99.9	4.9 ± 0.3	99.8	4.7 ± 0.5	0.01 (0.91)
Sexual harassment	99.1	4.8 ± 0.4	98.4	4.7 ± 0.5	1.45 (0.23)
Percentage score	93.7 + 7.8		91.0 + 9.0		t = 6.02, P < 0.001
Overall percentage score	78.7 ± 8.2		76.4 ± 7.9		t = 5.41, P < 0.001

Table 4 Main sources of physicians and nurses’ knowledge about domestic violence.

Source of knowledge	Physicians (n = 565)	Nurses (n = 988)	X^2 (P)
Medical school	18.2	33.6	42.13 (<0.001)
Practice	45.7	39.7	5.30 (0.02)
In job training workshop	13.3	33.2	73.22 (<0.001)
Personal experience with families	65.8	53.8	21.26 (<0.001)
Conferences	20.7	29.6	14.50 (<0.001)
Literatures and books	35.0	42.1	7.50 (0.006)
Media	61.6	73.5	25.20 (<0.001)

Table 5 Topics physicians and nurses agree/strongly agree to be included in training workshops and medical guidelines about domestic violence.

Topics	Physicians (n = 565)	Nurses (n = 988)	X^2 (P)
Definition of domestic violence	85.5	83.0	1.65 (0.20)
Background facts and information	86.0	84.2	0.91 (0.34)
Features associated with domestic violence	87.8	81.6	10.22 (0.001)
Assessment questions	86.0	84.5	0.64 (0.42)
Key aspects of history taking	85.5	82.4	2.51 (0.11)
Advice on accurate record keeping	82.5	83.1	0.10 (0.78)
Legal overview, including role of police	80.2	75.4	4.83 (0.03)
Review of safety issues for women/staff	83.9	85.2	0.42 (0.52)
Information about community agencies	82.1	85.9	3.99 (0.05)
Selected bibliography	81.0	77.9	2.12 (0.15)

Percentages are presented.