Family violence as a public health problem: Effects and costs in Finnish health care
The aim of this study was to provide more information on the long-term health effects
of family violence on victims and the costs to health services of treating victims. This
is the first longitudinal study conducted on the topic in Finland. It is also the first
study to directly compare the health effects and costs of treating different types of
interpersonal violence. The study also provides new information on Finnish health
care professionals’ experiences of family violence. The study data comprise two
separate data sets gathered in collaboration with the Central Finland Health Care
District. The first data set was collected from employees of the Central Finland Health
Care District using a cross-sectional wellbeing questionnaire (N = 1 952). The second
data set comprised emergency care patients who had been identified as having
experienced family, sexual or other interpersonal violence (N = 345) and whose health
care use and costs were analysed two years before and two years after their
identification date. Data were analysed using chi-square test for independence
(crosstabs), one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, confirmatory factor
analysis, multinomial logistic regression analysis, correlation analyses with the
Kendall’s Tau correlation coefficient, and structural equation modeling. The results
showed that the health care costs of family violence victims had already exceeded the
level of the general population 1.5 years before their identification in emergency care
and further increased towards the identification date. These results indicate that the
earlier identification of family violence in health care settings could significantly
reduce both the associated health problems and the financial burden it places on
health care services. Family violence was found to be common among a sample of
health care professionals, and was significantly associated with impaired mental
health and well-being. Hence, occupational health care services catering to health care
professionals should also be better aware of family violence and able to offer active
support to victims. This study demonstrates that family violence is a significant public
health problem in Finland that affects individuals, institutions, and society. Thus,
more resources should be dedicated to addressing family violence in health care
services.
Keywords: Family violence, interpersonal violence, health care use, health care costs,
quantitative research
...
Publisher
Jyväskylän yliopistoISBN
978-951-39-8808-1ISSN Search the Publication Forum
2489-9003Contains publications
- Artikkeli I: Siltala, H., Holma, J., & Hallman, M. (2019). Family violence and mental health in a sample of Finnish health care professionals : the mediating role of perceived sleep quality. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 33(1), 231-243. DOI: 10.1111/scs.12629. JYX: jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/63303
- Artikkeli II: Siltala, H. P., Kuusinen-Laukkala, A., & Holma, J. M. (2020). Victims of family violence identified in emergency care : comparisons of mental health and somatic diagnoses with other victims of interpersonal violence by a retrospective chart review. Preventive Medicine Reports, 19, Article 101136. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101136
- Artikkeli III: Siltala, H. P., Kuusinen-Laukkala, A., & Holma, J. M. (2020). Health care use and costs resulting from interpersonal violence: A retrospective chart review. Submitted manuscript.
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- JYU Dissertations [748]
- Väitöskirjat [3427]
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