Study protocol for a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of rape on women's health and their use of health services in South Africa
Date
2017-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Abstract
Introduction South Africa is a country known for its
high levels of HIV infection and sexual violence. Although
the interface between gender-based violence, HIV and
mental health has been described, there are substantial
gaps in knowledge of the medium-term and long-term
health impact. The 2010 Global Burden of Disease study
excluded many health outcomes associated with rape and
other forms of gender-based violence because systematic
reviews revealed huge gaps in data and poor evidence of
health effects. This study aims to describe the incidence
and attributable burden of physical and mental health
problems (including HIV acquisition) in adult women over
a 2-year postrape period, through comparison with a
cohort of women who have not been raped. The study will
substantially advance our understanding of the impact
of rape and will generate robust data to assist in the
development of postrape health services and the delivery
of evidence-based care.
Methods and analysis This longitudinal study seeks to
recruit 1008 rape-exposed and 1008 rape non-exposed
women. Women were recruited from health services, and
assessments were carried out at baseline, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18
and 24 months. Outcome measures include exposure to
risk factors; mental health status; cardio-metabolic risks;
and biomarkers for HIV, sexually transmitted infections,
pregnancy and stress. The primary analysis will be to
compare HIV incidence in the two groups using log-rank
tests. Appropriate models to predict health outcomes over
time will also be applied.
Description
CITATION: Abrahams, N. et al. 2017. Study protocol for a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of rape on women’s health and their use of health services in South Africa. BMJ Open, 7(9):e017296. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017296.
The original publication is available at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/
The original publication is available at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/
Keywords
Sexual abuse victims, Rape, Intimate partner violence, Women's health services
Citation
Abrahams, N. et al. 2017. Study protocol for a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of rape on women’s health and their use of health services in South Africa. BMJ Open, 7(9):e017296. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017296.