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.

Key words: Battered women; Domestic violence; Risk factors

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