Home violence in South Africa

Objectives: To estimate and monitor the incidence of home violence in South Africa at primary care level, during 1996. Design: Continuous surveillance and notification of new events of home violence, through a postal system. Setting: One hundred and twenty general/family practitioners throughout So...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pierre J.T. de Villiers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 1998-03-01
Series:South African Family Practice
Subjects:
Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/2236
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849234070549037056
author Pierre J.T. de Villiers
author_facet Pierre J.T. de Villiers
author_sort Pierre J.T. de Villiers
collection DOAJ
description Objectives: To estimate and monitor the incidence of home violence in South Africa at primary care level, during 1996. Design: Continuous surveillance and notification of new events of home violence, through a postal system. Setting: One hundred and twenty general/family practitioners throughout South Africa, with an average of 60 responding per week. Mainly 87% private sector, 53% city and 47% town-based. Subjects: Mainly self-paying patients visiting these general/family practitioners at the surgery, but 28% of practitioners held public service (district surgeon) appointments. Outcome measures: The number of new events of home violence reported per 1000 consultations, classified by gender, age group and population group. Results: During 49 6771 consultations. 2364 new events (0,5%) of home violence were reported, yielding a national notification rate of 4,76/1000 consultations for 1996. Large variation was noted between the provinces, with the Eastern Cape (11,09/100 cons) the highest. Women were twice as likely to be a victim as men were, with women in the age group 25-44 yielding the highest number of cases. The rate of the rural settings w as twice as high as the rate in the city/large towns. The warmer months had an above average rate and the colder months a below average rate. Conclusions: Although very likely under-reported, home violence constitutes at least 0,5% of a family practitioner's workload. The trends reported in this study warrant further research on the risk factors in order to design and implement prevention strategies. Further surveillance of home violence is warranted.
format Article
id doaj-art-14c5771734e643f69b2a934548e65c17
institution Kabale University
issn 2078-6190
2078-6204
language English
publishDate 1998-03-01
publisher AOSIS
record_format Article
series South African Family Practice
spelling doaj-art-14c5771734e643f69b2a934548e65c172025-08-20T04:03:17ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62041998-03-0119310.4102/safp.v19i3.22361770Home violence in South AfricaPierre J.T. de Villiers0Stellenbosch UniversityObjectives: To estimate and monitor the incidence of home violence in South Africa at primary care level, during 1996. Design: Continuous surveillance and notification of new events of home violence, through a postal system. Setting: One hundred and twenty general/family practitioners throughout South Africa, with an average of 60 responding per week. Mainly 87% private sector, 53% city and 47% town-based. Subjects: Mainly self-paying patients visiting these general/family practitioners at the surgery, but 28% of practitioners held public service (district surgeon) appointments. Outcome measures: The number of new events of home violence reported per 1000 consultations, classified by gender, age group and population group. Results: During 49 6771 consultations. 2364 new events (0,5%) of home violence were reported, yielding a national notification rate of 4,76/1000 consultations for 1996. Large variation was noted between the provinces, with the Eastern Cape (11,09/100 cons) the highest. Women were twice as likely to be a victim as men were, with women in the age group 25-44 yielding the highest number of cases. The rate of the rural settings w as twice as high as the rate in the city/large towns. The warmer months had an above average rate and the colder months a below average rate. Conclusions: Although very likely under-reported, home violence constitutes at least 0,5% of a family practitioner's workload. The trends reported in this study warrant further research on the risk factors in order to design and implement prevention strategies. Further surveillance of home violence is warranted.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/2236home violencesouth africa1996
spellingShingle Pierre J.T. de Villiers
Home violence in South Africa
South African Family Practice
home violence
south africa
1996
title Home violence in South Africa
title_full Home violence in South Africa
title_fullStr Home violence in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Home violence in South Africa
title_short Home violence in South Africa
title_sort home violence in south africa
topic home violence
south africa
1996
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/2236
work_keys_str_mv AT pierrejtdevilliers homeviolenceinsouthafrica