| Aims and objectives: To investigate the impact of domestic violence‐related factors
on suicide attempt in married women.
Background: Suicide is a global public health concern that poses significant burden
on individuals, families and communities. There is limited research on factors predict‐
ing suicide attempt in women.
Design: A retrospective case–control design was adopted.
Methods: Using a convenience sampling method, 610 participants, admitted to a
teaching referral hospital in Northwest of Iran, were recruited to the study and as‐
signed to case or control groups based on whether or not they had attempted suicide.
The participants in two groups were matched in the terms of important demographic
characteristics. Domestic violence‐related factors were considered as independent
variables and suicide attempt as dependent variable. Descriptive statistics, and sim‐
ple and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Odds
ratios (OR) of domestic violence‐related factors were compared between the groups.
We used STROBE checklist as an EQUATOR in this study.
Results: The mean age of participants in the case and control groups was 28.4 and
29.45 years, respectively. The infidelity was the strongest predictor of suicide attempt
in women (OR 44.57, 95%CI 6.08–326. 63, p < 0.001), followed by being threatened
to physical assault by husband (OR 37.01, 95%CI 11.54–118.67, p < 0.001), jealousy
of husband (OR 23.46, 95%CI 11.63–47.30, p < 0.001), and previous attempts to
divorce (OR 16.55, 95%CI 5.91–46.31, p < 0.001). Suicide attempt was significantly
lower in women who reported a sense of peace in life or lived with their mother or
father‐in‐law (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: To reduce the risk of suicide in women, violence against women should
be condemned and appropriate prevention measures be taken by health professionals.
Relevance to clinical practice: Recognising risk, assessment and referral of victims of
domestic violence should be an integral part of healthcare systems. |