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Women's Health (London, England) 2024Survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence often face many challenges in seeking/receiving healthcare and are often lost to follow up.
BACKGROUND
Survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence often face many challenges in seeking/receiving healthcare and are often lost to follow up.
OBJECTIVES
Our study objectives are to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction of using telemedicine technology among sexual assault and intimate partner violence patients who present to a Canadian Emergency Department.
DESIGN
Qualitative research was conducted using a thematic approach.
METHODS
Patients were identified from a case registry of all sexual assault and intimate partner violence cases seen between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022 from an emergency department of a large Canadian hospital. Qualitative trauma-informed interviews were conducted with consenting participants. Thematic qualitative analyses were performed to investigate barriers and drivers of telemedicine for follow-up care.
RESULTS
Of the 1007 sexual assault and intimate partner violence patients seen during the study timeframe, 180 (8%) consented to be contacted for future research, and 10 completed an interview regarding telemedicine for follow-up care. All participants were cisgendered women, 5 (50%) experienced sexual assault, 6 (60%) physical assault, and 3 (30%) verbal assault. All knew their assailant, and 6 (60%) were assaulted by a current or former intimate partner. Three themes emerged as drivers of telemedicine use: increased comfort, increased convenience, and less time required for the appointment. Three thematic barriers to telemedicine use included lack of privacy from others, lack of safety from their assailant, and pressure to balance competing tasks during the appointment.
CONCLUSION
This study illustrated that telemedicine for sexual assault and intimate partner violence follow-up care is feasible, acceptable, and can improve patient satisfaction with follow-up care. Ensuring safety and privacy are key considerations when offering telemedicine as an appropriate option for survivors.
Topics: Humans; Telemedicine; Female; Qualitative Research; Intimate Partner Violence; Adult; Survivors; Canada; Sex Offenses; Middle Aged; Emergency Service, Hospital; Patient Satisfaction
PubMed: 38783826
DOI: 10.1177/17455057241252958 -
JPMA. the Journal of the Pakistan... May 2024To determine the prevalence, predictors and perpetrators of violence, and its impact on the mental health of female healthcare workers.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence, predictors and perpetrators of violence, and its impact on the mental health of female healthcare workers.
METHODS
The cross-sectional study was conducted from June to October 2022 at three tertiary care hospitals after approval from the ethics review board of Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and comprised female healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff. Data was collected regarding workplace violence using a structured questionnaire adopted from literature. The incidence of verbal, physical and sexual violence in the preceding 12 months was noted, and predictors were analysed. Data was analysed using SPSS 25.
RESULTS
Of the 140 subjects with an age range of 16-60 years, verbal violence was experienced by 102(72.9%) and physical violence by 26(18.6%), while verbal and physical forms of sexual violence were reported by 33(23.6%) and 13(9.3%), respectively. Those in the Medicine department had significantly lower odds of experiencing verbal violence compared to those from the Surgery department (adjusted odds ratio=0.223; 95% confidence interval: 0.078-0.036; p=0.005). Those in the Emergency department had significantly greater odds of experiencing physical violence compared to those in Surgery (adjusted odds ratio=8.716; 95% confidence interval: 1.693-44.87; p=0.01). Violence had a significant detrimental impact on the mental health of female healthcare workers (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Violence was found to be prevalent in the healthcare sector, specifically in stressful and critical-care departments, like Emergency and Surgery.
Topics: Humans; Female; Pakistan; Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Workplace Violence; Middle Aged; Tertiary Care Centers; Prevalence; Young Adult; Adolescent; Health Personnel; Physical Abuse; Sex Offenses; Emergency Service, Hospital; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38783465
DOI: 10.47391/JPMA.8417 -
JPMA. the Journal of the Pakistan... May 2024To review available medical literature to elucidate the association between childhood sexual abuse and the development of irritable bowel syndrome later in life. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
To review available medical literature to elucidate the association between childhood sexual abuse and the development of irritable bowel syndrome later in life.
METHODS
This systematic review was conducted from January to August 2022 and comprised a literature search on Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases for relevant studies published between 2001 and 2021. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to determine the quality of the studies. Data on the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome were meta-analysed using a Mantel-Haenszel random-effects model in RevMan 5.4.1.
RESULTS
Of the 7 observational studies analyzed in detail, 5 (71.4%) had a case-control design, and 2 (28.6%) were crosssectional studies. Overall, there were 3156 subjects. The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in the childhood sexual abuse group was 51.86% (334/644), while it was 36.74% (923/2512) in the non-childhood sexual abuse group. The pooled odds ratio, indicating the association between childhood sexual abuse and irritable bowel syndrome, was 1.87 (95% confidence interval: 1.56-2.26). The study quality was rated as good in 3 (42.8%) cases, fair in 3 (42.8%), and poor in 1 (14.3%).
CONCLUSION
Childhood sexual abuse was found to be significantly associated with the development of irritable bowel syndrome later in life, further strengthening the argument that childhood sexual abuse can lead to long-term detriments extending into adulthood. However, there was no existing literature found that stratified other aspects of irritable bowel syndrome, including symptom severity and childhood sexual abuse being the exclusive cause of irritable bowel syndrome.
Topics: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Humans; Child Abuse, Sexual; Prevalence; Child
PubMed: 38783444
DOI: 10.47391/JPMA.9542 -
Scientific Reports May 2024Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by disruptions in pain processing within the central nervous system. It exhibits a high prevalence... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by disruptions in pain processing within the central nervous system. It exhibits a high prevalence among patients with a history of traumatic experiences, notably childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study compared the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to the current pharmacological standard of care for individuals suffering from CSA-related FMS. Forty-eight participants diagnosed with FMS and a history of CSA were randomly assigned to either the HBOT group (60 sessions of 100% oxygen at 2 ATA for 90 min, with air breaks every 5 min) or the medication (MED) group (FDA-approved medications, Pregabalin and Duloxetine). The primary endpoint was the Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) score, while secondary endpoints encompassed emotional status and daily functioning questionnaires, as well as pain thresholds and conditioned pain modulation tests. Brain activity was evaluated through single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Results revealed a significant group-by-time interaction for the FIQ score favoring HBOT over MED (p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = - 1.27). Similar findings were observed in emotional symptoms and functional measures. SPECT imaging demonstrated an increase in activity in pre-frontal and temporal brain areas, which correlated with symptoms improvement. In conclusion, HBOT exhibited superior benefits over medications in terms of physical, functional, and emotional improvements among FMS patients with a history of CSA. This associated with increased activity in pre-frontal and temporal brain areas, highlighting the neuroplasticity effect of HBOT.
Topics: Humans; Fibromyalgia; Hyperbaric Oxygenation; Female; Male; Adult; Middle Aged; Child Abuse, Sexual; Prospective Studies; Duloxetine Hydrochloride; Pregabalin; Treatment Outcome; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; Analgesics
PubMed: 38773296
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62161-5 -
PloS One 2024Parents are an obvious, but underutilized player in the prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA). A handful of universal parent-focused prevention programs have emerged,...
Parents are an obvious, but underutilized player in the prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA). A handful of universal parent-focused prevention programs have emerged, however, the evidence for these programs is mixed and the programs suffer ubiquitously from barriers to implementation (e.g., poor engagement, low participation) thereby limiting public health impact. To combat these barriers and improve evidence, researchers previously developed and tested a selective parent-focused CSA prevention program. While promising, the selective approach still leaves a gap in the prevention landscape-parents from the universal audience. However, there appear to be no standardized methods to inform this type of adaptation-interventions designed as universal or selective have primarily been delivered as such. This study sought to adapt the selective curriculum for a universal audience and examined the acceptability and feasibility of the program for evaluation in a future trial. Using mixed methods, N = 31 parents (i.e., primary caregiver for a child under 13) completed pre- and post-workshop surveys followed by a brief individual interview conducted via Zoom. Interviews, coded using content analysis methods, focused on three themes: parents as agents of prevention (e.g., prior action, confidence), curriculum (e.g., content, design), and engagement (e.g., future marketing and promotion). Overall participants' mean score on CSA-related awareness and intention to use protective behavioral strategies increased. The participants found the curriculum highly acceptable noting strengths in the content and design. All told, the results of this pilot study suggest the acceptability and feasibility of examining the efficacy of the universal parent-focused curriculum in a larger trial. Procedural challenges, such as bots in recruitment, identify areas of caution in design of the larger trial and a roadmap for others seeking to adapt selective programs for universal audiences.
Topics: Humans; Pilot Projects; Child Abuse, Sexual; Female; Male; Child; Parents; Adult; Curriculum; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38753647
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302982 -
PloS One 2024This study assesses the effect of the #MeToo movement on the language used in judicial opinions on sexual violence related cases from 51 U.S. state and federal appellate...
This study assesses the effect of the #MeToo movement on the language used in judicial opinions on sexual violence related cases from 51 U.S. state and federal appellate courts. The study introduces various indicators to quantify the extent to which actors in courtrooms employ language that implicitly shifts responsibility away from the perpetrator and onto the victim. One indicator measures how frequently the victim is mentioned as the grammatical subject, as research in the field of psychology suggests that victims are assigned more blame the more often they are referred to as the grammatical subject. The other two indices designed to gauge the level of victim-blaming capture the sentiment of and the context in sentences referencing the perpetrator. Additionally, judicial opinions are transformed into bag-of-words and tf-idf vectors to facilitate the examination of the evolution of language over time. The causal effect of the #MeToo movement is estimated by means of a Difference-in-Differences approach comparing the development of the language in opinions on sexual offenses and other crimes against persons as well as a Panel Event Study approach. The results do not clearly identify a #MeToo-movement-induced change in the language in court but suggest that the movement may have accelerated the evolution of court language slightly, causing the effect to materialize with a significant time lag. Additionally, the study considers potential effect heterogeneity with respect to the judge's gender and political affiliation. The study combines causal inference with text quantification methods that are commonly used for classification as well as with indicators that rely on sentiment analysis, word embedding models and grammatical tagging.
Topics: Humans; Language; Sex Offenses; United States; Crime Victims; Female; Male
PubMed: 38748666
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302827 -
Cuadernos de Bioetica : Revista Oficial... 2024The consumption of pornography over the Internet by minors has been increasing exponentially in recent years. The use of digital technologies and the ease of access to...
The consumption of pornography over the Internet by minors has been increasing exponentially in recent years. The use of digital technologies and the ease of access to these contents are causes that explain this event. Simultaneously, there is concern about the increase in sexual violence, associated with discriminatory behavior, despite the efforts of laws and programs that promote sexual reproductive health (SRH) and the principle of equality. From a bioethical point of view, it is urgent to address this issue, which affects the physical and psychological health of minors and their affective-sexual education. The study addresses whether it is possible to relate the consumption of online pornography by minors and sexual violence. To do this, legal sources, reports from associations, audiovisual councils and scientific studies are consulted. In all of them, the relationship between the consumption of online pornography by adolescents and risky behavior in emotional-sexual matters and gender inequality is evident. In the legal and fiscal sphere, it is alerted to the damage that is occurring and points out the need to propose lines of action that reverse this situation. We propose measures to technically regulate access to content. These measures are based on the precautionary principle, a tool that has been applied in fields such as health and the environment. More studies and political actions are needed to make the Internet a safe place for minors.
Topics: Erotica; Humans; Adolescent; Internet; Minors; Female; Male; Child; Sex Offenses
PubMed: 38734921
DOI: 10.30444/CB.164 -
PloS One 2024The leading role of the media is very important in the new media era to build the reporting system and framework of sexual violence crimes, guide people's awareness and...
The leading role of the media is very important in the new media era to build the reporting system and framework of sexual violence crimes, guide people's awareness and public opinion, and improve society's vigilance on sexual crimes. This study took People's Daily Online, a representative online media in China, as a research object to analyse the reporting of sexual crimes over the past 15 years. We conducted relevant searches for specific keywords set in the Python crawler and used IBM SPSS Statistics 19 software to analyse the frequency of relevant content. The results of the research show that, firstly, there have been significant changes in the number of news stories about sexual crimes. Second, the majority of sexual crime news stories are from mainland China. Third, the focus of the news stories and people is relatively concentrated on the perpetrators. Fourth, the People's Daily Online's coverage of sexual crimes focuses on blaming the perpetrators. Fifth, sexual crimes show that the framework is more episodic. This paper examines changes in the coverage of sexual crimes in China and captures how the media cover socially relevant issues, providing important insights for future social health, psychological awareness and diversion, and media policy.
Topics: China; Humans; Sex Offenses; Internet; Newspapers as Topic; Mass Media; Public Opinion; East Asian People
PubMed: 38728279
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299578 -
Jornal de Pediatria May 2024Child sexual violence is a multidimensional problem of many contemporary societies, affecting people of all sexes, social stratum and age groups. Offenses involving...
OBJECTIVE
Child sexual violence is a multidimensional problem of many contemporary societies, affecting people of all sexes, social stratum and age groups. Offenses involving children and adolescents are more serious, given their total or partial dependence on parents and caregivers. Information on child sexual violence in Brazil is found in raw form and without detail. The objective was to compare the information with social and economic data in the state of Paraná.
METHODS
The authors conducted a retrospective study of secondary data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) on cases of sexual violence involving victims aged 0 to 19 years. Results are presented according to notification characteristics. The authors applied exploratory spatial data analysis to assess spatial autocorrelations and investigated relationships by the ordinary least squares regression model.
RESULTS
Between 2017 and 2021, there were 13,403 reports of child sexual violence in Paraná State, Brazil. Most victims (82.8%) were female and aged between 10 and 14 years. The majority of sexual violence cases (67.8%) occurred in the home environment. The highest rates on a population basis were observed in the North Central and Greater Curitiba regions, mainly in cities with higher population density and with higher rates of other types of violence.
CONCLUSION
The results provide data that can promote a broader understanding of the distribution of sexual violence and the state and associated variations. It is expected to improve the provision of care for victims of child sexual violence and assist in strategic planning to prevent future offenses.
PubMed: 38703786
DOI: 10.1016/j.jped.2024.03.014 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Jun 2024Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in people within the criminal justice system. Psychological programs are the most common type of treatment available and...
BACKGROUND
Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in people within the criminal justice system. Psychological programs are the most common type of treatment available and have been shown to decrease recidivism, but dropping out of treatment is common. Risk factors associated with treatment dropout remain unclear in this setting, and whether the risk factors differ by treatment form (group-based vs. individual).
METHODS
Outcome (treatment dropout) was defined as not finishing the program due to client's own wish, misbehavior, no-shows, or because program leader found client to be unsuitable. Predictors of treatment dropout included a comprehensive set of individual-level clinical, socioeconomic, and crime-related pre-treatment characteristics. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate the associations between predictors and dropout.
FINDINGS
The study cohort included 5239 criminal justice clients who participated in a psychological treatment program (group-based or individual). Multivariable logistic regression models showed that female sex (OR=1.64, 95% CI 1.20-2.25), age (0.99, [0.97-1.00]), sentence length (0.98, [0.97-0.98]), higher education (0.54, [0.28-1.00]), number of violent offenses (1.03, [1.01-1.05]), and anxiety disorders (1.32, [1.01-1.72]) were associated with dropout from the individual treatment program. For the group-based program, age (OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00), sentence length (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98), stimulant use disorder (OR=1.48, 95%, 1.00-2.19), and self-harm (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.00-2.34) were associated with dropout.
CONCLUSIONS
We identified certain sociodemographic, crime-related, and clinical characteristics that were particularly important in predicting dropout from psychological treatment. Further, we find that there are similarities and differences in predictors of dropout from group-based and individual treatment forms.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Patient Dropouts; Adult; Substance-Related Disorders; Risk Factors; Criminal Law; Middle Aged; Cohort Studies; Young Adult; Crime
PubMed: 38696932
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111314