Habits, alcohol consumption and violent actions of the husband to the wife
Abstract:
This research is a matched case-control study, the objective of which was to determine the association between couples’ alcohol consumption and the violence of husbands against their wives, in Khon Kaen Province. A structured interview questionnaire was used to elicit data from 47 women attending the One- Stop Crisis Center of Khon Kaen Hospital, who experienced violence at the hand of their drinking husbands. Ninety-four married women living in the same neighborhood and in the same age group served as controls. The results revealed that non-drinking wives whose husbands drank alcohol and drinking wives and husbands were of risk of spousal violence (4.27 times (adjusted OR=4.27, 95%CI=1.10- 16.62) and 8.55 times (adjusted OR=8.55, 95%CI=1.75-41.90) respectively), compared with non-drinking couples. Drinking more than five glasses (adjusted OR=4.17, 95%CI=1.14-15.28) and substance abuse (adjusted OR=3.97, 95%CI=1.04-15.07) were also significantly associated with spousal violence. In conclusion, alcohol consumption is an important activating factor in spousal violence.