Physical domestic violence exposure is highly associated with suicidal attempts in both women and men. Results from the national public health survey in Sweden.

backgroundStudies on a national level concerning domestic violence (DV) among both men and women are few. DV and its relation to other social and health outcomes within the framework of the Swedish Public Health Survey have remained unexplored.

aimTo compare women and men regarding their social situation and health status in relation to self-reported exposure to physical DV as measured in the Swedish National Public Health Survey.

methodsThis study used cross-sectional data from the Swedish Public Health Survey, years 2004-09 with a total sample of 50 350 respondents, of which 205 women and 93 men reported DV exposure. Logistic regression analyses stratified by sex with physical DV exposure as the outcome measure were conducted, and the multivariate models were fitted using the likelihood ratio test.

resultsBeing foreign-born [women odds ratio (OR) = 1.52, men OR = 1.92] and lack of social support (women OR = 2.81, men OR = 1.92) were associated with DV exposure among both sexes. Higher psychological distress (women OR = 2.81, men OR = 1.92) and hazardous drinking (women OR = 1.61, men OR = 2.33) were also associated with DV exposure. Among women, financial problems were associated with DV exposure (OR = 1.83), whereas among men, sum of medicines used and higher odds of DV were associated (OR = 1.17). Further, suicidal attempts were associated with DV exposure among both women (OR = 5.59) and men (OR = 8.34).

conclusionsIn this national survey, prevalence rates of violence exposure were lower than in other studies, but despite this, both women and men exposed to physical DV reported increased odds of having attempted suicide.