Domestic violence experienced by women with multiple sclerosis: a study from the North-East of Iran

INTRODUCTION: Violence against women is a significant health and legal problem and has been declared as a health priority by the World Health Organization. The most common type of violence against women is domestic violence, more prevalent against women with disabilities than other women. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disease and has experienced sudden growth in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of domestic violence and its various types (psychological, economic, physical, and sexual) experienced by women with MS. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 275 married women with MS were selected using convenience sampling. After obtaining informed consent and reviewing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the Domestic Violence against Women Questionnaire developed by Mohseni Tabrizi et al. was completed by the participants on a self-report basis. The results were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. To analyze data, statistical tests including chi-square and Fisher exact tests for univariate analysis and logistic regression, were employed. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 37.12 ± 8.48 years. Domestic violence in different forms of psychological, economic, physical, and sexual violence was present in 53.1%, 63%, 33.6%, and 20.4% of participants, respectively. Economic violence (33.8%) was the highest, and sexual violence (5.1%) was the lowest rate of severe violence among participants. There was a significant relationship between the overall rate of domestic violence and the variables including income (P = 0.013), spouse’s income (P = 0.001), participant’s job (P = 0.036) and participant’s education (P = 0.001). In logistic regression, the overall rate of domestic violence was higher in participants with education less than a diploma than in participants with a diploma (P = 0.014) and participants with a university education (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: According to the results, providing opportunities such as promoting the social status of women, fulfilling the rights of women with disabilities and debilitating diseases such as MS in society is recommended. Additionally, educating men about the negative impact of domestic violence on the current and future status of the family seems necessary. Providing counseling facilities on various forms of violence, especially domestic violence, for women with MS, is also recommended.