Open AccessHigh prevalence of symptoms in a severely abused “non‐patient” women population
Author(s) -
Pallotta N,
Piacentino D,
Ciccantelli B,
Rivera M,
Golini N,
Spagnoli A,
Vincoli G,
Farchi S,
Corazziari ES
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ueg journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.667
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 2050-6414
pISSN - 2050-6406
DOI - 10.1177/2050640614552010
Subject(s) - medicine , sexual abuse , physical abuse , population , poisson regression , poison control , child abuse , psychiatry , injury prevention , medical emergency , environmental health
Objective The objective of this article is to assess the prevalence of somatic symptoms and of gastrointestinal (GI) syndromes in abused “non‐patient” women and the association with the time of perpetration, type, and severity of abuse. Methods Sixty‐seven women, 18–58 years, receiving shelter in anti‐violence associations were invited to fill out an anonymous questionnaire with a medical and an abuse section. The severity of abuse was expressed as the 0–6 Abuse Severity Measure (ASM). The association between abuse characteristics and the number of symptoms, and GI syndromes was assessed by Poisson regression model. Results Most women suffered from childhood and adulthood sexual and physical abuse. They reported a mean of 5.1 GI symptoms (range 0–13; median 5; IQR 6) and of 1.3 extra‐GI symptoms (range 0–6; median 1; IQR 2); 30% of women matched the Rome II Criteria for one, 36% for two, and 4.4% for three or more syndromes, respectively. Women with an ASM of 5–6, having suffered from both sexual and physical abuse, reported significantly ( p = 0.02) more GI symptoms, but not extra‐GI ones ( p = 0.07), and met criteria for more GI syndromes than women with an ASM ≤4 and those reporting only one type of abuse. No association was found between the time of perpetration of the abuse and the number of GI and extra‐GI symptoms. Conclusions Symptoms in abused “non‐patient” women mainly concern the abdomen and the GI tract. A history of severe, combined physical and sexual abuse is associated with a higher number of GI symptoms.