MUTINOMIAL LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODEL OF THE PREVALENCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of domestic violence among pregnant women in Plateau State. Our studying only pregnant woman was based on this premise. From January to SJune 2023, pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos were asked to complete a questionnaire (Table I) about their abuse experiences before and during the current pregnancy. They were allowed to answer the questions in privacy within the hospital. All questionnaires were collected from the respondent before they left the hospital premises. The questionnaire was anonymous and was not administered to women in company of their spouse or relations, to avoid a possible reprisal or false declaration. The questionnaire was answered by self-completion; however, the unlettered were assisted by a researcher. The questionnaire was administered to all pregnant women seen during the 6 months period irrespective of their gestational age at the time of interview. The questionnaire was pilot-tested initially using 100 consecutive pregnant women seen between 14 November and 13 December 2022. The responses were coded, entered and analyzed using STATA Version. Frequency tables were drawn comparing the socio-demographic characteristics of the women studied. Cross-tabulation was also made with chi-square statistic used to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of the abused and non-abused women. The prevalence of domestic violence among these women was 67.5% and 58.7% were abused in the current pregnancy. With a large percentage of these women refusing to answer questions on domestic violence, the incidence is likely to be higher than 67.5%, as it is usually the abused women who refuse to confess abuse. There was a significance difference between the outcome variable and the exposure variables