Intimate partner violence and excess fertility among women of reproductive age in Malawi.

Autor: Dadabhai S; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America., Quaynor L; Department of Advanced Studies in Education, Johns Hopkins School of Education, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America., Bandala-Jacques A; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America., Seyama L; Kamuzu University of Health Sciences-Johns Hopkins Research Project, Blantyre, Malawi., Rahman MH; Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Phiri R; Malawi National Statistics Office, Zomba, Malawi., Decker MR; Department of Population, Family & Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America., Taha TE; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2024 Jan 26; Vol. 19 (1), pp. e0297959. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 26 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297959
Abstrakt: Purpose: Gender inequity and adverse health outcomes continue to be of concern among women in sub-Saharan Africa. We determined prevalence of intimate partner violence and excess fertility (having more children than desired) in reproductive age women in Malawi. We also explored factors associated with these outcomes and with spousal fertility intentions.
Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a total of 360 women and 410 men were recruited using multi-stage sampling from communities in a peri-urban setting in Blantyre District, Southern Malawi in 2021. Women and men were separately interviewed by trained study workers using a structured questionnaire. In addition to descriptive analyses, we used univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to assess associations of risk factors with the outcomes of intimate partner violence and excess fertility.
Results: Among women, lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence was 23.1%, and excess fertility was experienced by 25.6%. Intimate partner violence was associated with male partners alcohol consumption (adjusted odds ratio 2.13; P = 0.019). Women were more likely to report excess fertility if they were older (adjusted odds ratio 2.0, P<0.001, for a 5-year increase). Alcohol consumption by the male partner (adjusted odds ratio 2.14; P = 0.025) and women being able to refuse sex with their male partner (adjusted odds ratio 0.50; P = 0.036) were associated with discordant fertility preferences.
Conclusions: Intimate partner violence, excess fertility, and social and health inequities continue to be prevalent in Malawi. These data suggest the underlying proximal and distal factors associated with these adverse outcomes such as alcohol consumption may be addressed through education, couple interactive communication, and community dialogue. To ensure sustainability and effectiveness, strong leadership involvement, both governmental and non-governmental, is needed.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Dadabhai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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