PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Michelle Kao Nakphong
AU  - Ondine S von Ehrenstein
TI  - Intimate partner violence and childhood illnesses in Cambodia: a cross-sectional study
AID  - 10.1136/archdischild-2019-317663
DP  - 2020 Mar 01
TA  - Archives of Disease in Childhood
PG  - 223--228
VI  - 105
IP  - 3
4099  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/105/3/223.short
4100  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/105/3/223.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child2020 Mar 01; 105
AB  - Background Around a quarter of Cambodian women reported being victim to intimate partner violence (IPV) from their current partner. Children’s exposure to familial IPV impacts psychosocial well-being and emerging research indicates associations with physical health.Objective Investigate associations between maternal experience of IPV and common childhood illnesses in Cambodia.Design, setting, participants Analysis of the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (2000, 2005, 2014) using logistic regression, including 5025 children under 5 years of age whose mothers responded to questions about experience of emotional, physical and sexual violence by current partner.Main outcome measures Report of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection (ARI) or fever, respectively, in children in the two weeks preceding the survey.Results Children of mothers with experience of any type of IPV had estimated elevated odds of diarrhoea (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.65, 95% CI 1.39 to 1.97), estimated odds of ARI (aOR=1.78, 95% CI 1.47 to 2.16) and estimated odds of fever (aOR=1.51, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.76) compared with children of mothers without reported IPV experience. Exposure to any form of IPV corresponded to an estimated 2.65 times higher odds (95% CI 2.01 to 3.51) for reporting having both diarrhoea and ARI.Conclusions Our findings support the notion that children’s susceptibility to diarrhoea, ARI and fever may be affected by mothers’ experience of IPV, including emotional violence. Maternal and child health programmes should train healthcare professionals to identify domestic violence and children at risk, and link victims to appropriate health and legal services.