Violência física entre parceiros íntimos: um fator de risco para o excesso de peso entre mulheres adultas?

Abstract

The main objective of this thesis was to evaluate the relationship between Intimate Partner Physical Violence (IPPV) and the nutritional status in adult women. The information underlying the research originated from a household survey conducted in the District of Campos Elíseos, in the city of Duque de Caxias, between April and November 2010. The study population was selected using cluster sampling in three stages (census tract, household, individual) with inverse sampling techniques to the selection of households. The sample included 625 women aged 20 to 59 years, in which the period of the interview reported having a romantic relationship in the past 12 months and had eligibility criteria for the execution of anthropometry. Information was obtained interviewing the women through a structured questionnaire containing previously validated scales such as the Revised Conflict Tatics Scales (CTS2) to measure the IPPV, and also measuring their weight and height to calculate the BMI (kg/m2). The results of the thesis are presented in the article titled "Intimate Partner Physical Violence: a risk factor for overweight among adult women?". The analyzes indicate that the profile of the study population suggests that the sample is representative of a population of low/middle income countries. The prevalence of overweight was 36.5% [IC95%: 30,9-42,1%], 29.9% [IC95%: 23,3-36,4%] of obesity and 27.1% [IC95%: 19,6-34,7%] of women reported some form of IPPV. Refuting the central hypothesis of this thesis, after controlling for women's education, age, race, marital status, pregnancy, alcohol misuse by the partner and social support, the occurrence of VFPI reduced the likelihood of overweight (OR: 0,54, p-value 0,093) and obesity (OR: 0,35, p-value 0,001), indicating that there is a tendency to lower weight among women who reported IPPV the past twelve months. These results corroborate previous studies that claim that both intimate partner violence, as excess weight, are important public health problems in Brazil, deserving to be promptly addressed. The findings on the effects of VFPI on nutritional status obtained in this study are going in the same direction from two survey that studied the effects of physical abuse in India, but differ from those found by the authors in Egypt and in the USA that have not found this association. Due to the lack of consensus between the findings and the small number of studies on the subject, it is suggested that further research be conducted.