Fatih Erkan AKAY, Ilgın KILIÇ, Nur Gülce İŞKAN, Begüm SÖYLEYİCİ, Ece ŞENYİĞİT, F. Gülsüm ÖNAL

ASSESSMENT OF THE AWARENESS AND OPINIONS OF TURKISH MEDICAL STUDENTS TOWARDS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED STUDY

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the opinions of medical students about violence against women, the education they receive during medical school regarding violence against women, and how they would manage a case of violence victims if they were to encounter it in their medical careers. Methods: In this question- naire-based study, 610 medical students from 37 medical schools were approached, and their opinions towards violence against women were evaluated through an online questionnaire. Demographic data such as age and gender were also gathered. Students were grouped according to their gender (male and female) and study levels; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades were grouped as pre-clinical, whereas students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades were grouped as clinical. In comparing para- metric variables, the Student’s t-test was used, whereas, in non-parametric variables, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. The Chi-square test was used in the comparison of categorical variables. Results: There was a statistically significant difference within both groups (gender and study levels) for questions 5 (Which of the following would you describe as violence? [Multiple answers are allowed.]) and 13 (Do you think female physicians are exposed to violence more?). Our results also demonstrate a statistically significant difference for questions 15 (Is it obligatory for a physician to keep a legal report for a female patient who has been admitted to the emergency department as a victim of violence), 16 (It is not obligatory for a physician to keep a legal report for a female patient who has been admitted to the emergency department as a victim of violence without her consent.), and 17 (A physician is not obliged to complete the physical examina- tion or continue the diagnosis-treatment process of a female patient who has been a subject of violence without her consent.) between pre-clinical and clinical groups, where the clinical group gave the most correct answers. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results gave us a perspective that clinical students' awareness and management of violence against women is higher than pre-clinical students'. These results may be attributed to two factors; lectures on violence against women or the experience students attain during their clinical practices. Female students were keener in participating in our study. Further prospective studies with equal gender distribution investigating the possible impact of lectures about violence against women on physicians' management of similar situations are needed.

Keywords:

violence, medical students, awareness,

PDF

___

1.European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Violence against women: an EU-wide survey: main results report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the Eu- ropean Union; 2014.
2. United Nations. Declaration on the elimination of violence against women. New York: UN; 1993.
3. World Health Organization. Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-part- ner sexual violence. Geneva: WHO; 2013.
4. Altınay AG, Arat Y. Violence against women in Turkey: a nationwide survey. Is- tanbul: Punto; 2009.
5. Kaptanoglu Y, Cavlin I, Ergocmen AA et al. Research on domestic violence against women in Turkey. Main Report. Hacettepe University, Institute of Pop- ulation Studies: 2015.
6. Sharma P, Jamwal D, Mehta A et al. COVID 19- endangering women’s mental and reproductive health. JK Science 2020;22(3):106-9.
7. Adibelli D, Sümen A, Teskereci G. Domestic violence against women during the Covid-19 pandemic: Turkey sample. Health Care Women Int 2021;42(3):335-350.
8. World Health Organization. Femicide (serial online) 2012 (cited 2021 Apr). Available from: URL:https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77421/ WHO_RHR_12.38_eng.pdf.
9. United Nations. Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General. (serial online) (cited 2021 Apr). Available from: URL:https://treaties.un.org/pages/par- ticipationstatus.aspx?clang=_en.
10. Gunes A. Legal implications of Turkey’s accessions to the Istanbul Convention by enacting and refining its laws on violence against women. Women & Criminal Justice 2019;31:(3)210-24.
11. Presidential Decision. Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey (serial online) 2021 Mar 20: 31429. Available from: URL:https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskil- er/2021/03/20210320-49.pdf.
12. Ramsay J, Rutterford C, Gregory A et al. Domestic violence: knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practice of selected UK primary healthcare clinicians. Br J Gen Pract 2012;62:647-55.
13. Salaçin S. Sağlık çalışanlarının kadına yönelik şiddetin önlenmesinde üstlen- ebilecekleri roller. Toplumsal Cinsiyet, Sağlık ve Kadın (serial online) 2003: (7 screens). Available from: URL:http://www.huksam.hacettepe.edu.tr/Turkce/Say- faDosya/saglik_calisanlarinin_kadina_yonelik.pdf.
14. Manuel B, Roelens K, Tiago A et al. Medical curricula on intimate partner vio- lence in Mozambique. Acta Med Port 2020;33(1):22-30.
15. Koschorke A, Tilzey A, Welch J. Should medical students be taught about rape? A survey of UK medical schools. BJOG 2007;114(2):224-5.
16. Kennedy KM, Vellinga A, Bonner N et al. How teaching on the care of the victim of sexual violence alters undergraduate medical students’ awareness of the key issues involved in patient care and their attitudes to such patients. J Forensic Leg Med 2013;20(6):582-7.
17. World Health Organization. Violence against women. (serial online) (cited 2021 Apr). Available from: URL:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ violence-against-women.
18. Ernst AA, Houry D, Nick TG et al. Domestic violence: incidence and awareness in a first-year medical school class. Acad Emerg Med 1998;5(1):64-8.
19. Williams L, Forster G, Petrak J. Rape attitudes amongst British medical students. Med Educ 1999;33(1):24-7.
20. Anderson I, Quinn A. Gender differences in medical students' attitudes towards male and female rape victims. Psychol Health Med 2009;14(1):105-10.
21. Potter LC, Feder G. Domestic violence teaching in UK medical schools: a cross-sectional study. Clin Teach 2018;15(5):382-6.
22. Çalıkoglu EO, Aras A, Hamza M et al. Sexism, attitudes, and behaviors towards violence against women in medical emergency services workers in Erzurum, Tur- key. Glob Health Action 2018;11(1):1524541.
23. Hamzaoglu N, Türk B. Prevalence of physical and verbal violence against health care workers in Turkey. Int J Health Serv 2019;49(4):844-61.
24. Demirci Ş, Uğurluoğlu Ö. An evaluation of verbal, physical, and sexual violence against healthcare workers in Ankara, Turkey. J Forensic Nurs 2020;16(4):33-41.
25. Glenn AL, Raine A. The neurobiology of psychopathy. Psychiatr Clin N Am 2008;31:463-75.
26. Nielsen DA, Goldman D, Virkkunen M et al. Suicidality and 5-hydroxyin- doleacetic acid concentration associated with a tryptophan polymorphism. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994;51(1):34-8.