Prevalence of intimate partner abuse among nurses and nurses' aides in Mexico

Background Nurses are the health professionals most frequently involved in the diagnosis and treatment of victims of family violence (FV). Understandi ng their personal experience with victimization is the key to shaping an ap propriate role as advocates for medical recognition of FV and as integral m embers of the screening teams. We sought to determine the lifetime prevalen ce of intimate partner abuse among them and identify its risk factors. Methods. In our cross-sectional study, 1,150 registered nurses and nurses' aides at ii urban hospitals in Mexico City self-administered an anonymous s urvey. We calculated descriptive statistics, Fisher exact tests, and multiv ariate logistic regression models to analyze physical, sexual, and emotiona l abuse during adulthood. Results. Physical/sexual abuse during adulthood was 13% for nurses' aides a nd 18% for nurses. Similar proportions (13% of nurses' aides and 14% of nur ses) also reported childhood physical/sexual abuse. Additional respondents (39% nurses' aides, 42% nurses) reported emotional abuse during adulthood. Detecting no significant differences in abuse patterns between the two grou ps, we combined occupations for all subsequent analyses. Results. Being sep arated or divorced (vs. married) (Apr = 3.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.81-6.34) and having suffered physical/sexual abuse during childhood (Apr = 3.39, 95% CI: 2.26-5.08) were associated with physical/sexual abuse in a dulthood. The same variables were associated with adult emotional abuse (se parated/divorced: Apr = 5.33, 95% CI: 2.61-10.85, and childhood physical/se xual abuse: Apr = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.79-3.75). Younger women (between the ages of 23 and 28 years) reported more emotional abuse (Apr = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.4 8-2.98). Conclusions. Counseling for abused nursing staff may help break the cycle. Physical/sexual partner abuse among nurses appears lower than among the gen eral Mexican population, but remains worrisome. Battling childhood abuse mi ght prevent intimate partner violence. (C) 2001 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.