Belay Sewhareg, Astatkie Ayalew, Hinderaker Sven Gudmund
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2022 May 23;15:1175-1185. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S361000. eCollection 2022.
It is important that health workers understand intimate partner violence (IPV) and its link with ill health. Increasing their awareness will help them play a stronger role in identifying survivors and providing appropriate health care. We assessed the knowledge and attitude of health workers towards IPV survivors taking into account their professional roles.
Data was collected in 2018 in 12 health centers and 55 health posts located in 3 districts of the former Sidama zone using a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome variable was proportion of wrong responses of the knowledge questions. We also calculated scores from the 10 knowledge questions and 10 Likert items of attitude. Proportions of wrong responses were compared between health post and health center staff. Mean knowledge score was compared using an independent samples -test and a one-way analysis of variance. A Tukey's honestly significant difference test was performed to determine significant analysis of variance results.
There were 139 participants. Most (78%) of them were females. Nurses and midwives accounted for 54% of the total. Few (13%) of the participants had received previous training regarding IPV. More than half of the participants were not confident about how to care for women exposed to IPV. "Wrong responses" (incorrect or "don't know") ranged from 5.8% to 30.9%. The mean knowledge score was higher for women older than 30 years (p = 0.03). Negative attitudes ranged from 4 to 47%. One-third of the participants believed that they could not suspect IPV unless they saw physical injuries. More knowledge about IPV was associated with better attitude scores.
Around half of the health workers felt unprepared to provide care to IPV survivors, and a third would not consider IPV unless they saw physical evidence. Increasing knowledge may improve attitudes and support for IPV survivors.
卫生工作者了解亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）及其与健康不良的联系非常重要。提高他们的认识将有助于他们在识别幸存者和提供适当医疗保健方面发挥更强大的作用。我们考虑到卫生工作者的专业角色，评估了他们对IPV幸存者的知识和态度。
2018年，在前锡达马地区的3个区的12个卫生中心和55个卫生站，使用自填式问卷收集数据。主要结果变量是知识问题的错误回答比例。我们还从10个知识问题和10个态度李克特项目中计算得分。比较了卫生站和卫生中心工作人员的错误回答比例。使用独立样本t检验和单因素方差分析比较平均知识得分。进行了Tukey真实显著差异检验以确定显著的方差分析结果。
有139名参与者。其中大多数（78%）为女性。护士和助产士占总数的54%。很少（13%）的参与者曾接受过关于IPV的培训。超过一半的参与者对如何照顾遭受IPV的妇女没有信心。“错误回答”（不正确或“不知道”）范围从5.8%到30.9%。30岁以上女性的平均知识得分更高（p = 0.03）。消极态度范围从4%到47%。三分之一的参与者认为，除非看到身体伤害，否则他们无法怀疑存在IPV。对IPV了解更多与更好的态度得分相关。
约一半的卫生工作者觉得没有准备好为IPV幸存者提供护理，三分之一的人除非看到身体证据否则不会考虑IPV。增加知识可能会改善对IPV幸存者的态度和支持。
