Prevalence of perceived experiences of emotional, physical, sexual, and health care abuse in a Swedish male patient sample

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of and current suffering from emotional abuse (EA), physical abuse (PA), and sexual abuse (SA) and abuse in health care (AHC) among male Swedish patients and compare prevalences of abuse between female and male patients at a Swedish university hospital. For data collection we used the NorVold Abuse Questionnaire, which has been validated in a female sample and in the present study. The lifetime prevalences were EA = 12.8%, PA = 45.7%, SA = 3.8%, and AHC = 8.1%. Current suffering from abuse among participants was 1% to 9%. The women reported higher rates than men of current suffering from all kinds of abuse and more severe forms of abuse, such as life-threatening PA. Health care staff should be aware of the documented high prevalences of abuse and learn to make good judgments as to when to ask male as well as female patients about experiences of abuse.