title: The prevalence of domestic violence in primary care patients in Slovenia in a five-year period (2005-2009).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence in primary care patients in Slovenia and determine the associated factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a systematic cross-sectional survey, 70 physicians from 70 family medicine practices from urban and rural settings conducted interviews with every fifth patient from January 15 to February 15, 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 2075 patients (98.8% response rate), 372 (17.9%) were exposed to psychological or physical violence in the family in the last five years. Factors that increased the chances of exposure to psychological and physical violence were female sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.24-4.76; Plt;0.001; OR, 4.52; 95% CI, 2.83-7.20; Plt;0.001, respectively) and formal divorce (OR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.35-3.21; P=0.001; OR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.73-4.29; Plt;0.001, respectively). Factors that decreased the chances of exposure to psychological violence were age of 65 years or above (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.96, P=0.035) and single status (OR, 0.43; 95% CI 0.21-0.86, P=0.016), while age of 65 years or above (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23-0.79, P=0.007) and parenting of two children (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29-0.90, P=0.020) decreased the chances of exposure to physical violence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found the rate of exposure to psychological and physical violence of 17.9%, which indicates that this problem is a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed by adequate measures. The identified risk and protective factors could serve as a valid guidance for family physicians dealing with physical violence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Poljanski nasip 58, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Nena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kopcavar Gucek
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Svab
authors.forename: Polona
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Selic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires