Assessing the Prevalence and Impact of Domestic Violence on Mental Health: Urban Health Survey 2006

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic violence, often referred as intimate partner violence, is an emerging public health concern, which contributes to the mortality and morbidity of women worldwide and has adverse impacts on both physical and mental health. Objective: The study seeks to find the prevalence of domestic violence and its association with mental health issues in women from urban areas. Method: The Urban Health Survey 2006 data set was used in this study to determine the prevalence and effect of domestic violence on the mental health condition of women living in slum and non-slum areas of Bangladesh. The data set for female participants contained 9,707 currently married women participants, who were aged between 13 to 59 years old. Multivariate logistic regression was done in STATA 12.0 to understand the strength of association between domestic violence and poor mental health outcome.

Results: The distribution of lifetime domestic violence among the participant in slum and non- slum areas were 54.6% and 45.4% respectively. Types of violence reported include, slapping

(51.1%), pushing (35.6%), punching (26.2%), kicking (20.9%), trying to kill/burn (6.64%), and forced sexual act (19.43%). Women experiencing domestic violence at least once in their life also have been found to have reported suicidal ideation (8.3%), difficulty in enjoying daily activities (52.4%), and feeling worthless (16.2%). Any form of violence experienced by the respondents in lifetime showed association (OR 4.97, 95% CI 3.04-8.13, p<0.05) with emotional distress, based on the SRQ-20 scale of mental health status. Discussion: Based on the secondary data analysis, prevalence of lifetime domestic violence among the participant was found to be higher in slum areas than the non-slum areas. In the context of Bangladesh in 2006, married women reporting violence in their lifetime showed statistically significant relationship with poor mental health conditions, indicating further necessities to conduct national-level research and reformation in policy-making level.