Exposure to domestic violence in women living in Istanbul and Aegean regions: a Turkish sample.

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious public health problem in the world. DV against women is also a global problem without cultural, geographic, religious, social, economic or national boundaries. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the situations of DV in women living in Istanbul and the Aegean Region in Turkey. The study population included outpatient clinics of state hospitals both regions. A stratified sampling by age was performed and 1100 women were included into the sample. Data were collected at face-to-face interviews with Domestic Violence Against Women Determination Scale. The mean age of the women living in Istanbul was 41.81 ± 9.75 years and Aegean Region was 33.72 ± 11.38 years. The prevalence of emotional and financial violence were higher in Istanbul and the Aegean Region. The women living in Istanbul got higher scores for Domestic Violence Against Women Determination Scale. The prevalence of the women reporting to suffer from violence from their spouses was 15.4% in Istanbul and 14% in the Aegean Region. While the prevalence of the women suffering from violence was higher in Istanbul, the women in Aegean Region suffered from more severe violence. The violence prevalence was lower among the wives and the husbands with high education levels, employed women and high-income families.

Exposure to domestic violence in women living in Istanbul and Aegean regions: a Turkish sample / Exposição à violência doméstica em mulheres que vivem em Istambul e nas regiões do Egeu: uma amostra turca

Abstract Domestic violence (DV) is a serious public health problem in the world. DV against women is also a global problem without cultural, geographic, religious, social, economic or national boundaries. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the situations of DV in women living in Istanbul and the Aegean Region in Turkey. The study population included outpatient clinics of state hospitals both regions. A stratified sampling by age was performed and 1100 women were included into the sample. Data were collected at face-to-face interviews with Domestic Violence Against Women Determination Scale. The mean age of the women living in Istanbul was 41.81 ± 9.75 years and Aegean Region was 33.72 ± 11.38 years. The prevalence of emotional and financial violence were higher in Istanbul and the Aegean Region. The women living in Istanbul got higher scores for Domestic Violence Against Women Determination Scale. The prevalence of the women reporting to suffer from violence from their spouses was 15.4% in Istanbul and 14% in the Aegean Region. While the prevalence of the women suffering from violence was higher in Istanbul, the women in Aegean Region suffered from more severe violence. The violence prevalence was lower among the wives and the husbands with high education levels, employed women and high-income families.

Resumo A violência doméstica (VD) é um grave problema de saúde pública no mundo. VD contra as mulheres também é um problema global sem fronteiras culturais, geográficas, religiosas, sociais, econômicas ou nacionais. Este estudo descritivo transversal foi realizado para determinar as situações de VD em mulheres que vivem em Istambul e na região do Egeu, na Turquia. Foi realizada uma amostragem estratificada por idade e 1.100 mulheres foram incluídas na amostra. Os dados foram coletados em entrevistas presenciais com a Escala de Determinação de Violência Doméstica Contra a Mulher. A idade média das mulheres que vivem em Istambul foi de 41.81 ± 9.75 anos e a região do Egeu foi de 33.72 ± 11.38 anos. As prevalências de violência emocional e financeira foram maiores em Istambul e na região do Egeu. A pontuação na Escala de Determinação de Violência Doméstica Contra a Mulher foi mais elevada entre as mulheres que vivem em Istambul. A prevalência das mulheres que relatam sofrer violência de seus cônjuges foi de 15.4% em Istambul e 14% na região do Egeu. Embora a prevalência das mulheres que sofrem de violência tenha sido maior em Istambul, as da região do Egeu sofreram de violência mais grave. A prevalência da violência foi menor entre as esposas e os maridos com altos níveis de escolaridade, mulheres empregadas e famílias de alta renda.

Foreigners dying in Istanbul.

The study included 411 deaths selected from 14,647 medicolegal deaths autopsied in the Morgue Department of Forensic Medicine Institute Directorate, affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, between 1998 and 2002. Data were collected from court documents, coroner's investigation reports, and autopsy reports. The parameters of age, gender, nationality and origin, cause and place of death in foreigners dying in Istanbul were evaluated in the study. Out of 14,647 medicolegal deaths, 3.5% were foreigners from 34 different nationalities. The nationality with the highest rate of foreigner deaths (34%) was Romanian. Out of 411 deaths, 74.3% were male and 25.7% were female. Of all cases, 64.4% were tourists visiting Istanbul and 35.6% had a job in Istanbul. Of 146 foreigners employed in Istanbul, 94.5% did not have a work permit, while only 5.5% had a work permit.

Comparison of pulmonary autopsy findings of the rats drowned at surface and 50 ft depth.

INTRODUCTION: When a body is recovered from the water after a fatal SCUBA diving accident, it is useful to know if the diver was under pressure or not when he/she took his/her last breath, in order to determine the cause and manner of the death. If the victim was under pressure, the air remained in the lungs of the diver will be equal to the environmental pressure. If the body comes to the surface, the air in the lung will expand according to the Boyle's Gas Law and give mechanical damage to the surrounding tissues, due to decreases in environmental pressure. We designed an experimental study to see the difference in pulmonary autopsy findings of the rats that drowned under normobaric and hyperbaric conditions. METHOD: Forty five male, 250-300 g, Sprague Downey adult rats were divided into three groups. Two groups of rats were drowned under normobaric conditions (Groups DS Group DSS) and the third group at 50 ft pressure (Group DD). The pulmonary autopsy findings of the groups were compared. In the light microscopy, the number of the microscopic fields (x10) containing at least one emphysematous area with longitudinal dimension greater than 300 micro m were compared among the groups. RESULTS: The gross examination revealed a prominent swelling of the lungs in all rats in the Group DD, in comparison to that of the Groups DS and DSS. The number of the microscopic fields, which included at least one emphysematous area with longitudinal dimension greater than 300 micro m out of 150 fields from each of the groups DS, DSS and DD, were 88, 101 and 115 respectively. The difference between the group DS and DD was found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We conclude that in investigating the fatal diving accidents, pulmonary autopsy findings give valuable information whether the death occurred at the surface or at the depth.

Health professionals' attitude toward euthanasia: a cross-sectional study from Turkey.

There is an ongoing debate on the definition of euthanasia and attempts to change laws about euthanasia and its practice in many countries. It is the medical doctors and the other health professionals who will elucidate the issue. Therefore, we performed this study to reveal attitude of Turkish health professionals toward euthanasia. This is an observational and cross-sectional study and data were collected with a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 545 health professionals in Samsun, a city in the Black Sea Region in Turkey. Data were analyzed with SPSS package programs. Of all health professionals included in the study, 43.5% were medical doctors and 45.5% auxiliary health professionals. Of all participants, 33.6% did not object to euthanasia and 7.9% were asked to perform euthanasia. Eighty point seven percent of the participants noted that euthanasia could be abused even if a euthanasia law were passed. It can be concluded that the health professionals should have a chance to discuss euthanasia and that their attitude toward and their expectations and worries about euthanasia should be taken into account when a euthanasia law is drafted.

Gynecological examinations for social and legal reasons in Turkey: hospital data.

AIM: Women in Turkey are subjected to gynecologic examinations not only for legal reasons, such as sexual assault or violence against pregnant women, but also for various social reasons, such as suspicions of premarital intercourse, prostitution, loss of virginity, and pregnancy at the time of entering into a new marriage. The examinations are performed by general practitioners, forensic physicians, and gynecologists. This study presents social reasons for gynecologic examinations of women in Turkey. METHOD: We analyzed the reasons for gynecologic examination of 412 women at the 1st Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Sisli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, between January 1, 1999 and June 30, 2001. RESULTS: Out of 27,376 women at the Department, 412 (1.5%) underwent gynecologic examination for social or legal reasons: 82 (19.9%) for entering into a new marriage, 41 (10.1%) for violence against pregnant women, 28 (6.7%) for sexual assault, 53 (12.8%) for suspicion of prostitution, and 208 (50.5%) for the determination of virginity. CONCLUSION: Gynecologic examinations for legal or social reasons in Turkey are still rather common. Medicolegal regulation of gynecological examinations should be changed to protect women's human rights.