Domestic Violence Against Men - Prevalence and Risk Factors

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in the North Rhine Academy for Continuing Medical Education and is available as an open-access article. Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), intimate partner violence is among the major risks to women's health around the world. Men, too, can be victims of domestic violence; like female victims, they tend to present initially with their injuries to a family physician or an emergency room. Domestic violence against men is thus a relevant issue for physicians of all specialties. Methods: This review is based on publications retrieved by a comprehensive, selective search in the PubMed database and with the Google Scholar search service, as well as on a retrospective analysis of data on the injured persons, the aggressors, and the nature of the violence that was experienced and the injuries that were sustained. Results: The studies identified by the search yielded prevalence rates of 3.4 percent to 20.3 percent for domestic physical violence against men. Most of the affected men had been violent toward their partners themselves. 10.6-40 percent of them reported having been abused or maltreated as children. Alcohol abuse, jealousy, mental illness, physical impairment, and short relationship duration are all associated with a higher risk of being a victim of domestic violence. The reported consequences of violence include mostly minor physical injuries, impaired physical health, mental health problems such as anxiety or a disruptive disorder, and increased consumption of alcohol and/or illegal drugs. Conclusion: The prevalence of violence against men and the risk factors for it have been little studied to date. It would be desirable for preventive measures to be further developed and for special help to be made available to the affected men. This course on domestic violence is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. In addition, this course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their knowledge of domestic violence. The course material includes a literature review of intimate partner violence. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A significant benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Kolbe, Buttner Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding domestic violence. Specifically, a professional will: Describe risk factors that could lead a person to become an abuser Identify the prevalence rate of domestic physical violence against men Recognize the consequences of domestic physical violence Citation: Kolbe, V., and Buttner, A. (2020). Domestic violence against men prevalence and risk factors. Deutsches Arzteblatt International, 117(31-32), 534.