| dc.description.abstract | Objectives. The primary objective was to investigate the prevalence of a history
of abuse among women attending routine antenatal care in six northern Euro-
pean countries. Second, we explored current suffering from reported abuse.
Design. A prospective cohort study. Setting. Routine antenatal care in Belgium,
Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, and Sweden between March 2008 and
August 2010. Population. A total of 7174 pregnant women. Methods. A ques-
tionnaire including a validated instrument measuring emotional, physical and
sexual abuse. Main outcome measure. Proportion of women reporting emo-
tional, physical and sexual abuse. Severe current suffering defined as a Visual
Analogue Scale score of 6. Results. An overall lifetime prevalence of any abuse
was reported by 34.8% of the pregnant women. The ranges across the six
countries of lifetime prevalence were 9.7–30.8% for physical abuse, 16.2–27.7%
for emotional abuse, and 8.3–21.1% for sexual abuse. Few women reported
current sexual abuse, 0.4% compared with 2.2% current physical abuse and
2.7% current emotional abuse. Current severe suffering was reported by 6.8%
of the women who reported physical abuse, 9.8% of those who reported sexual
abuse and 13.5% for emotional abuse. Conclusion. A high proportion of preg-
nant women attending routine antenatal care report a history of abuse. About
one in ten of them experiences severe current suffering from the reported
abuse. In particular, these women might benefit from being identified in the
antenatal care setting and being offered specialized care. | nb_NO |
