Social determinants of child abuse: evidence of factors associated with maternal abuse from the Egypt demographic and health survey.

Background: Child abuse or maltreatment is a significant global public health problem of unknown global prevalence. About 40 million children aged 0-14 years require health and social care globally. The prevalence, determinants, and trends of national or global rates of child abuse and maltreatment are largely unknown.

The effect of economic, physical, and psychological abuse on mental health: a population-based study of women in the Philippines.

Background. The comparative effect of economic abuse and other forms of abuse in predicting depression and other mental health disorders has not been previously investigated despite its relevance for mental illness prevention. Objective.

Socioeconomic position as a determinant of maternal healthcare utilization: a population-based study in Namibia.

Background: Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving maternal healthcare and reducing maternal mortality. The utilization of maternal health services is influenced by several factors that need to be better understood. The objective of this study was to estimate the role of socio-economic position as a determinant of the utilization of maternal health care in Namibia.

The relationship between socio-economic inequalities, intimate partner violence and economic abuse: a national study of women in the Philippines.

Economic abuse against women has for too long remained a relatively 'unseen' part of interpersonal violence, in spite of intimate partner violence (IPV) being a public health problem. Most studies on economic abuse derive especially from the USA and amongst women in shelters, and their findings are not easily generalisable to low-middle-income countries. Socio-economic inequalities render women vulnerable to control and risk of abuse.

Intimate partner violence against women in Maputo city, Mozambique.

Background: There is limited research about IPV against women and associated factors in Sub-Saharan Africa, not least Mozambique. The objective of this study was to examine the occurrence, severity, chronicity and "predictors" of IPV against women in Maputo City (Mozambique).

Methods: Data were collected during a 12 month-period (consecutive cases, with each woman seen only once) from 1,442 women aged 15-49 years old seeking help for abuse by an intimate partner at the Forensic Services at the Maputo Central Hospital, Maputo City, Mozambique.

Community-level influences on women's experience of intimate partner violence and terminated pregnancy in Nigeria: a multilevel analysis.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health problem with serious consequences for women's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. Reproductive health outcomes such as unwanted and terminated pregnancies, fetal loss or child loss during infancy, non-use of family planning methods, and high fertility are increasingly recognized. However, little is known about the role of community influences on women's experience of IPV and its effect on terminated pregnancy, given the increased awareness of IPV being a product of social context.

Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization in female victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence in Maputo City, Mozambique.

Background: Little knowledge exists in Mozambique and sub-Saharan Africa about the mental health (symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization) of women victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) by type of abuse (psychological aggression, physical assault without/with injury, and sexual coercion). This study scrutinizes factors associated with mental health among women victims and perpetrators of IPV over the 12 months prior to the study.

Methods And Materials: Mental health data were analyzed with bivariate and multiple regression methods for 1442 women aged 15-49 years who contacted Forensic Services at Maputo Central Hospital (Maputo City, Mozambique) for IPV victimization between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008.

The role of gender inequities in women's access to reproductive health care: a population-level study of Namibia, Kenya, Nepal, and India.

Background: The role of gender inequities in explaining women's access to reproductive health care was examined in four countries (two sub-Saharan African and two South Asian countries). The extent of gender inequities varies across and within countries, and is rooted in the different cultural practices and gender norms within these different countries, and differences in the status and autonomy of women.

Methods: Demographic and Health Survey data from women aged 15-49 years within these countries were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the role of multidimensional characteristics of gender inequities, operationalized as access to skilled antenatal care, tetanus toxoid injection during pregnancy, and access to skilled antenatal care.

Gender inequities, relationship power, and childhood immunization uptake in Nigeria: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: This study aimed to simultaneously examine the association between multiple dimensions of gender inequities and full childhood immunization.

Methods: A multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed on nationally representative sample data from the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, which included 33,385 women aged 15-49 years who had a total of 28,647 live-born children; 24,910 of these children were included in this study.

Results: A total of 4283 (17%) children had received full immunization.

Traumatic physical health consequences of intimate partner violence against women: what is the role of community-level factors?

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a serious public health issue with recognizable direct health consequences. This study assessed the association between IPV and traumatic physical health consequences on women in Nigeria, given that communities exert significant influence on the individuals that are embedded within them, with the nature of influence varying between communities.

Methods: Cross-sectional nationally-representative data of women aged 15 - 49 years in the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey was used in this study.

Controlling behavior, power relations within intimate relationships and intimate partner physical and sexual violence against women in Nigeria.

Background: Controlling behavior is more common and can be equally or more threatening than physical or sexual violence. This study sought to determine the role of husband/partner controlling behavior and power relations within intimate relationships in the lifetime risk of physical and sexual violence in Nigeria.

Methods: This study used secondary data from a cross-sectional nationally-representative survey collected by face-to-face interviews from women aged 15 - 49 years in the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Regional inequalities in under-5 mortality in Nigeria: a population-based analysis of individual- and community-level determinants.

Background: Regions with geographically diverse ecology and socioeconomic circumstances may have different disease exposures and child health outcomes. This study assessed variations in the risks of death in children under age 5 across regions of Nigeria and determined characteristics at the individual and community levels that explain possible variations among regions.

Methods: Multilevel Cox proportional hazards analysis was performed using a nationally representative sample of 6,029 children from 2,735 mothers aged 15-49 years and nested within 365 communities from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Migration and child health inequities in Nigeria: a multilevel analysis of contextual- and individual-level factors.

Objective: To assess the role of rural-urban migration in the risks of under-five death; to identify possible mechanisms through which migration may influence mortality; and to determine individual- and community-level relationships between migration status and under-five death.

Method: Multilevel Cox regression analysis was used on a nationally representative sample of 6029 children from 2735 mothers aged 15-49 years and nested within 365 communities from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to express the measures of association between the characteristics, and intra-class coefficients were used to express the measures of variation.

Inequalities in under-5 mortality in Nigeria: do ethnicity and socioeconomic position matter?

Background: Each ethnic group has its own cultural values and practices that widen inequalities in child health and survival among ethnic groups. This study seeks to examine the mediatory effects of ethnicity and socioeconomic position on under-5 mortality in Nigeria.

Methods: Using multilevel logistic regression analysis of a nationally representative sample drawn from 7620 females age 15 to 49 years in the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, the risk of death in children younger than 5 years (under-5 deaths) was estimated using odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for 6029 children nested within 2735 mothers who were in turn nested within 365 communities.

Migration and child immunization in Nigeria: individual- and community-level contexts.

Background: Vaccine-preventable diseases are responsible for severe rates of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Despite the availability of appropriate vaccines for routine use on infants, vaccine-preventable diseases are highly endemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Widespread disparities in the coverage of immunization programmes persist between and within rural and urban areas, regions and communities in Nigeria.

Urban area disadvantage and under-5 mortality in Nigeria: the effect of rapid urbanization.

Background: Living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas is associated with increased -childhood mortality risks. As city living becomes the predominant social context in low- and middle-income countries, the resulting rapid urbanization together with the poor economic circumstances of these countries greatly increases the risks of mortality for children < 5 years of age (under-5 mortality).

Objective: In this study we examined the trends in urban population growth and urban under-5 mortality between 1983 and 2003 in Nigeria.

Trends and determinants of under-five mortality in Uganda.

Objectives: We assessed the levels and trends of childhood mortality between 1990 and 2006, and assessed the determinants of under-five mortality. Results of this study are intended to aid formulate health policy interventions in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Methods: Three Uganda Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data sets collected in 1995, 2000/2001 and 2006 were used to estimate the levels and trends of childhood mortality between 1990 and 2006.

Inequitable childhood immunization uptake in Nigeria: a multilevel analysis of individual and contextual determinants.

Background: Immunization coverage in many parts of Nigeria is far from optimal, and far from equitable.Nigeria accounts for half of the deaths from Measles in Africa, the highest prevalence of circulating wild poliovirus in the world, and the country is among the ten countries in the world with vaccine coverage below 50 percent. Studies focusing on community-level determinants therefore have serious policy implications

Methods: Multilevel multivariable regression analysis was used on a nationally-representative sample of women aged 15-49 years from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Inequities in under-five mortality in Nigeria: differentials by religious affiliation of the mother.

Observations in Nigeria have indicated polio vaccination refusal related to religion that ultimately affected child morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the role of religion in under-five (0-59 months) mortality using a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 7,620 women aged 15-49 years from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and included 6,029 children. Results show that mother's affiliation to Traditional indigenous religion is significantly associated with increased under-five mortality.

Individual- and contextual-level determinants of social inequities in under-five mortality in Nigeria: differentials by religious affiliation of the mother.

In sub-Saharan Africa, social factors such as religion have been linked with significant child morbidity and mortality. In religiously multi-denominational societies, one dominant religious group tends to subject the other groups to some form of economic, social or political discrimination, resulting in inequities in child survival. This study assessed the influence of individual- and community-level indicators underlying the association between religion and under-five mortality using multilevel logistic regression modelling.

Collective violence and attitudes of women toward intimate partner violence: Evidence from the Niger Delta.

Background: The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been undergoing collective violence for over 25 years, which has constituted a major public health problem. The objectives of this study were to investigate the predictors of women's attitudes toward intimate partner violence in the Niger Delta in comparison to that of women in other parts of Nigeria.

Methods: The 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey was used for this study.

Attitudes of women toward intimate partner violence: a study of rural women in Nigeria.

Predictors of rural women's attitudes in Nigeria toward intimate partner violence (IPV) were investigated using a random sample of rural women (n = 3911) aged 15-49 years from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Findings were suggestive of social, religious, and cultural influences in the women's attitudes towards IPV. Women resident in the three northern regions, the South South region, Muslim women, women with low levels of education and low household wealth were more likely to tolerate IPV.

Faith and child survival: the role of religion in childhood immunization in Nigeria.

This study assessed the role of mother's religious affiliation in child immunization status of surviving children 12 months of age and older in Nigeria, using data from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Guided by two competing hypotheses--the 'characteristics hypothesis' and the 'particularized theology hypothesis'--variations in the risks of child immunization in Nigeria were examined using logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that religion plays a role in the risk of non-immunization; religion was not associated with the risk of partial immunization; however, religion was significantly associated with the reduced risk of full immunization.