Kent Lindqvist

A National Study of the Prevalence and Correlates of Domestic Violence Among Women in India

This article estimates the national prevalence rate of domestic violence in India and examines the demographic and socioeconomic status of the victims of domestic violence. The study used the Indian National Family Health Survey 3, a cross-sectional national survey of 124 385 ever-married women of reproductive age from all the 29 member states. χ2 Analysis and logistic regression were used. Lifetime experiences of violence among respondents were as follows: emotional violence, 14%; less severe physical violence, 31%; severe physical violence, 10%; and sexual violence, 8%. Women of scheduled castes and Muslim religion were most often exposed to domestic violence. Women’s poorer economic background, working status, and husband’s controlling behavior emerged as strong predictors for domestic violence in India. Elimination of structural inequalities inherent in the indigenous oppressive institutions of religion, caste, and the traditional male hierarchy in society could prevent domestic violence.

Evaluation of a child safety program based on the WHO Safe Community model

Objectives: To evaluate the outcome of the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Community model with respect to child injuries. Study design: A population based quasiexperimental design was used. Cross sectional pre-implementation and post-implementation data were collected in intervention (Motala municipality) and control (Mjölby municipality) areas, both in Östergötland county, Sweden. Results: The total relative risk of child injury in the intervention community decreased more (odds ratio 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 0.81) than in a control community exposed only to national level injury prevention programs (0.93; 95% CI 0.82 to 1.05). The relative risk of moderately (abbreviated injury scale (AIS) 2) severe injury in the study area was reduced to almost a half (odds ratio 0.49; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.57), whereas the risk of minor (AIS 1) injuries decreased only slightly (odds ratio 0.89; 95% CI 0.80 to 0.99). The risk of severe or fatal (AIS 3–6) injuries remained constant. Conclusions: After introduction of an injury prevention program based on the WHO Safe Community model, the relative risk for child injury in the intervention community decreased significantly more than in a control community exposed only to national injury prevention programs.

Making sense of safety

Beyond injury prevention The concept of “safety” can have many different meanings. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as “freedom from danger and risks”, while the Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes safety as “the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss”. According to etymologist Douglas Harper, the word safe first came into use in the English language around 1280, derived from the Old French sauf , which in turn stemmed from the Latin salvus , meaning “uninjured, healthy, safe”. The Latin word is related to the concepts of salus (“good health”), saluber (“healthful”), and solidus (“solid”), all derived from the Proto-Indo-European base word solwos , meaning “whole”.1 Thus, at its root, the concept of safety revolves around wholeness and health. Injury prevention researchers have defined safety as “a state or situation characterised by adequate control of physical, material, or moral threats”, which “contributes to a perception of being sheltered from danger” (Andersson and Svanstrom, as quoted in Welander et al , page 122). Safety is commonly viewed through the lens of specific injury domains: for some researchers in the injury prevention field, safety has come to mean the prevention of crime and violence; for others, a reduction in motor vehicle deaths or a feeling of being out of danger rather than being in a positive state of human growth and development.3 Due to the multitude of views on the definition of safety, a collaborative effort was launched in 1996 by two World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centers on Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Quebec, Canada, and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, to develop international consensus on the conceptual and operational aspects of safety and safety promotion.2 A document was published in 1998 entitled Safety and Safety Promotion: Conceptual …

Fear of crime and psychological and physical abuse associated with ill health in a Swedish population aged 65-84 years

OBJECTIVES To assess the association between fear of crime and/or psychological and/or physical abuse in relation to self-reported physical and psychological health, using a large representative sample of elderly women and men in Sweden. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional national survey. METHODS Data were taken from a nationwide representative public health survey (2006). Men and women between the ages of 65 and 84 years were selected for the present analyses (4386 men and 4974 women). The response rate for this age group was 59% for men and 70% for women. RESULTS Psychological and physical abuse against elderly women and men led to higher odds ratios for negative health outcomes, independently of socio-economic status. Strong correlation was found between psychological abuse and negative health outcomes in both men and women, while the correlation was less strong for physical abuse, especially among women. The men had high odds ratios for suicidal thoughts and even for attempted suicide in connection with physical and psychological abuse and fear of crime. CONCLUSIONS The study provides representative results addressing an extensive negative health outcome panorama caused by fear of crime and exposure to abuse.

Injuries during leisure physical activity in a Swedish municipality

The objective of this study was to provide an epidemiologic basis for planning community programmes preventing injuries during leisure physical activity, especially participation in sports. A total population survey of unintentional injuries was carried out in an area with a population of over 41,000. All sports injuries (n = 933) occurring within a 12-month period and requiring medical care were noted, giving a ratio of 22.5 per 1000 inhabitants. The majority of the injuries occurred in soccer (38.9%), followed by injuries in basketball/volleyball/handball (10.9%), and bandy/hockey (9.2%). The results correspond to previous studies in southern Scandinavia. In northern communities, the proportion of injuries in winter sports has been shown to be higher. Identification of these similarities and differences between the studies makes it possible to use the findings together in the design of general community-based sports injury prevention programmes suited to northern European conditions.

Economic analysis of injury prevention – applying results and methodologies from cost-of-injury studies

Injuries pose an economic problem of immense proportion to communities in every society. The economic burden from injuries can be quantified through cost-of-injury studies, using techniques adopted from cost-of-illness research. This study explores the feasibility of applying results and methodologies from existing cost-of-injury studies in economic analyses of injury prevention interventions and programmes. The literature on cost-of-injury studies and economic appraisals of injury prevention efforts was examined to elicit studies that calculated injury costs. Studies were accepted for inclusion if they included an analysis of the costs of all injuries occurring in a geographical area (community, region or country) during a specific time period, employed a societal perspective and an incidence-based costing approach and were conducted in industrialized countries. There were 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The average total cost per injury case was US

Evidence based prevention of acute injuries during physical exercise in a WHO safe community

3536, while the average share of indirect to total cost per injury case was 71%. However, the cost figures showed wide variation across the studies. Based on the limited similarity of findings from the studies, it was concluded that it is not feasible to apply results and methodologies from existing cost-of-injury studies. The cost estimators described in this study could possibly be adapted for use as reference points in economic analyses of existing programmes, but any other uses should be approached with caution. Locally obtained data are needed for reliable economic analyses of injury prevention interventions and programmes.

Long-term health consequences of violence exposure in adolescence: a 26–year prospective study

Objective—To evaluate a community based programme for evidence based prevention of injuries during physical exercise. Design—Quasi-experimental evaluation using an intervention population and a non-random control population. Participants—Study municipality (population 41 000) and control municipality (population 26 000) in Sweden. Main outcome measures—Morbidity rate for sports related injuries treated in the health care system; severity classification according to the abbreviated injury scale (AIS). Results—The total morbidity rate for sports related injuries in the study area decreased by 14% from 21 to 18 injuries per 1000 population years (odds ratio 0.87; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79 to 0.96). No tendency towards a decrease was observed in people over 40. The rate of moderately severe injury (AIS 2) decreased to almost half (odds ratio 0.58; 95% CI 0.50 to 0.68), whereas the rate of minor injuries (AIS 1) increased (odds ratio 1.22; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.40). The risk of severe injuries (AIS 3–6) remained constant. The rate of total sports injury in the control area did not change (odds ratio 0.93; 95% CI 0.81 to 1.07), and the trends in the study and control areas were not statistically significantly different. Conclusion—An evidence based prevention programme based on local safety rules and educational programmes can reduce the burden of injuries related to physical exercise in a community. Future studies need to look at adjusting the programme to benefit all age groups.

Evaluation of inter-organizational traffic injury prevention in a WHO safe community

BackgroundViolence victimization represents a serious risk factor for health related symptoms, for both men and women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of violence exposure in late adolescence and early adulthood on adult health, physical as well as mental, using a long-term prospective population-based study, with a follow up of 9, 19, and 26 years.MethodsThe primary data source is a longitudinal panel from one of the longest running social science surveys in the world, the Swedish Level-of-Living surveys (LNU). We analyzed three cohorts, individuals aged 15–19 in 1974 and 1981, and individuals aged 18–19 in 1991 which were followed up 2000. Structured interviews on childhood, family relationships, life-events, living conditions, health history and status, working conditions, behavioral, psychosocial, and demographic variables were repeatedly used in all cohorts.ResultsMultivariate models of violence exposures in adolescence in the 1974–91 cohorts as predictors of adult health in 2000 are reported for both men and women. Women exposed to violence had raised odds ratios for ill health, measured as heavy illness burden, and poor self rated health, after controlling for possible confounders. No such associations were found for men.ConclusionsThis study’s findings provide additional empirical support for the importance of policies and practices to identify and prevent violence exposure in adolescence and young adulthood and to supply treatments for adolescence exposed to violence and above all the young women.

Gender aspects of work-related injuries in a Swedish municipality

The objective of the study was to examine the effect of a community-based injury prevention program on traffic injuries. A population-based quasi-experimental design was used with pre- and post-implementation measurements in an intervention and a control area. The program was based on inter-organizational participation in detecting and taking action against traffic injuries. The total relative risk for traffic injury in the study area showed only a tendency to decrease following program exposure (odds ratio 0.91; 95% confidence interval 0.81-1.02). No change in relative risk was observed in the control area. The analyses of program impact on injury severity showed that the relative risk for moderate injuries in the study area was reduced by almost half (odds ratio 0.59; 95% confidence interval 0.49-0.69), the risk for severe or fatal injuries remained constant (odds ratio 1.27; 95% confidence interval 0.80-2.02), and the risk for minor injuries increased (odds ratio 1.34; 95% confidence interval 1.13-1.59). The relative risk for moderate injuries was reduced by at least half for mopedists, cyclists, pedestrians, and those leaving or entering a motor vehicle. Community-based injury prevention can be a complement to national traffic safety programs.