Objective: To examine risk factors for injury to married women from domestic violence in Hong Kong.
Design: Case control study.
Setting: Regional public hospital, Hong Kong.
Patients: All married women aged 18 to 60 years who attended an accident and emergency department for treatment of a domestic violence injury from January 2004 to June 2005.
Main outcome measures: Social and health characteristics of abused women and their husbands.
Results: A total of 293 cases were compared to 313 controls. Eight predictive variables were found to be significant by univariate analysis: woman who is a new immigrant (P = 0.003), woman with no job (P = 0.019), husband with low educational level (P < 0.001), presence of extramarital affairs (P < 0.001), husband's unemployment (P < 0.001), husband's alcohol abuse (P < 0.001), husband's illicit drug abuse (P = 0.032), husband's mental illness (P < 0.001). Five factors were found to be significant in a logistic regression analysis: husband with a low educational level (nil to primary) [adjusted odds ratio = 2.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.149-6.727], husband unemployed (adjusted odds ratio = 9.031; 95% confidence interval, 5.163-15.796), presence of extramarital affairs (adjusted odds ratio = 5.218; 95% confidence interval, 2.899-9.395), husband's alcohol abuse (adjusted odds ratio = 6.089; 95% confidence interval, 3.460-10.716), husband's mental illness (adjusted odds ratio = 9.443; 95% confidence interval, 2.351-37.926).
Conclusions: Several significant risk factors have been identified for injury incurred during domestic violence to married women in Hong Kong. It provides information useful for developing local preventive strategies.