The Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence, Associated Risk Factors, and Other Moderating Effects: Findings From the Kenya National Health Demographic Survey.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is not only a fundamental violation of human rights but also a major public health problem. IPV is the most predominant form of violence committed by men against women. Therefore, our study sought to determine the prevalence of IPV and other moderating factors associated with IPV among these women. This study utilized data from the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), a nationally representative household-based survey that utilizes a two-stage sampling design. Data was weighted and analyzed using Stata 12 for Windows. A total of 3,028 women were interviewed for the analysis. A majority of the women were aged between 20 and 29 years (1,305; 43.1%), with a greater proportion married (2,329; 76.9%) and identified as Protestant (2,181; 72.1%). On adjusted analysis, factors associated with experiencing IPV included women who: were aged between 40 and 49 years belonging to religions other than Catholic, Protestant, or practiced no religion, resided in urban areas, were currently working, had a poor Wealth Index, were not sexually assertive, had one sexual partner other than their husband/spouse, received money, gifts, or favors in return for sex, had no knowledge on HIV, had husbands/partners aged above 50 years, experienced an early sexual debut of less than 18 years and felt that their partners were justified in beating them. Gender-based violence is complex and multifaceted affecting individuals, families, and society at large and should be addressed from different spectrums of intervention. There is a need for interventions that reduce and prevent IPV through empowering women, creating jobs to accumulate wealth, creating a conducive environment within workplaces for those employed, educating women, and empowering school-aged children to avert IPV.

Bridging the Gap in Implementation Science: Evaluating a Capacity-Building Program in Data Management, Analysis, Utilization, and Dissemination in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Building capacity in implementation science within health programs is dependent on training in theory and practice of epidemiology, statistics, and research in addition to high self-efficacy toward application of training. This article describes a training program providing technical assistance to more than 300 health facilities in Kenya and Tanzania, its evaluation results, and its ability to improve participants' knowledge, competencies, and self-efficacy on data management, analysis, and dissemination among health care professionals. Two months prior to the training, participants (n = 98) were emailed a pre-course survey including 19 questions using a Likert-type response for planning the content of the workshop. Six to 12 weeks after the training, a post-course survey was emailed to all participants. Five different trainings were conducted indicating 5 participant cohorts. The questions posed involved course satisfaction, course impact on knowledge and skills, and self-efficacy in data analysis and utilization. Post-course survey results revealed that the participants had confidence in data analysis, which was significantly different from the pre-test results (0.05 α). Qualitative commentary complemented the findings of the impact of the workshop. Four manuscripts and 13 abstracts have been submitted post training. Results suggest that a short-term training program can achieve immediate gains in data and research self-efficacy among health care professionals. Although increasing self-efficacy is a necessary first step in developing skills, educators should engage in continuing education for sustainable dissemination practices. There is an urgent need to determine the current infrastructure to promote scientific dissemination. This will assist countries to produce better evidence to support their programs, policies, and overall health programs.