Spouses Of Victims Research Articles

Epidemiological profile of interpersonal violence in Brazil between 2015 and 2019

The objective was to determine the prevalence of interpersonal violence between 2015 and 2019, based on notifications from the Unified Health System (SUS). This is an ecological study with metadata from SINAN/DATASUS on notifications of violence over a period of 05 years. A total of 1,534,146 cases of violence were reported in several categories: physical violence; psychological violence; neglect/abandonment; sexual violence; torture; financial/economic violence; Child labor; legal intervention; trafficking in persons; and other types of violence. The main victims of violence were women (77.55%), white (40.40%), with incomplete higher education (13.93%), single (38.08%) and heterosexual (50.15%). Violence was characterized by sexism as the main motivation (8.88%), with physical violence being the most prevalent (60.78%). As for the means of aggression, force/body beating (42.98%) was the most used against the victim. The majority profile of the aggressor was male (54.54%), adult (45.52%), victim's spouse (13.61), not alcoholic (43.41%). These results demonstrate the importance of preventing violence, especially in the home environment, perpetrated by intimate partners, family members and acquaintances of the victim. The study provides, to date, one of the largest samples of interpersonal violence reported by health professionals in Brazil.

Study of Functional Foods Consumption Patterns Among Decedents Dying Due to Various Causes of Death

Background: Western diet appears to be a risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes and cancer whereas dietary supplements of functional foods rich Mediterranean diets are inversely associated, among individuals and populations with underlying lack of general and health education. We have only scanty information about functional foods which may be considered as nutraceuticals. The prevalence of optimal functional food eating behavior pattern in the population is unknown. This study examines the prevalence of optimal functional foods eating behavior as a protective factor among victims dying due to NCDs to find out the accuracy of the verbal autopsy questionnaire. Subjects and Methods: Death records of 2,222 (1,385 men and 837 women) decedents, aged 25-64 years, out of 3,034 death records, were randomly selected and studied by verbal autopsy questionnaires. All the risk factors and protective factors were assessed by questionnaires which were completed with the help of the victim's spouse and a local treating doctor, by a trained scientist. The lack of knowledge on health education about the role of adverse effects of Western foods was assessed by the questionnaires. Functional food intake was considered in presence of fruit, vegetable and legume intake of minimum 250g/day (moderate) and ideally 400g/day consistent with WHO guidelines. Results: The prevalence of optimal prudent foods intake behavior; fruit, vegetable and legume (>250g/day) intake were observed among 51.4% (n=712) men and 50.4% (n=422) women. Western type food (>255g/day)intake was observed among 63.2% (n=875)men and 59.9% (n=502) women. The prevalence of optimal functional food intake was significantly greater among men compared to women (19.4 vs 14.6%, P<0.05). The consumption of functional food not fruits; grapes and apples, guava, stargoose berry and lemon and onion, garlic ginger was significantly greater among men as compared to women. Other functional foods such as soy products, mustard or olive oil, curd or yogurt, nuts and fish, tea and cocoa, spices; turmeric, cumin, coriander seeds and peppers intake showed no significant difference between two sexes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that after adjustment of age and body weight, total functional foods intakes and fruit, vegetable, legume and nuts intake were significantly inversely associated with deaths due to NCDs, whereas Western type foods (red meat and eggs, refined foods ) were positively associated with these causes of deaths, in both sexes. Total spices intake, mustard/olive oil intake and curd or yogurt intake, were inversely but weakly associated with causes of deaths due to NCDs, among both men and women. The prevalence of protective behavior pattern was observed among half of the victims, dying due to injury and accidents where such behaviors were uncommon among decedents dying due to NCDs. Conclusions: It is possible that protective health behavior about functional food intake can be accurately assessed by a verbal autopsy questionnaire administered to a spouse of the decedents among Indians. The consumption of functional food appears to be lower among victims dying due to CVDs and cancer.

Personal reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy from a victim's spouse with commentary by a close colleague.

This is a story of one of the Virginia Tech professors whose wife, a charismatic French instructor, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, was killed in her Norris Hall classroom on April 16, 2007 while trying to protect her students from the armed, deranged student-shooter threatening her classroom. Jerzy is the head of the Horticulture Department at Virginia Tech. The author reflects on his and his youngest daughter's posttraumatic and secondary traumatic experiences, focusing mostly on the interface between family and his profession. Jerzy's reflections are complemented by those of Richard Veilleux (text in italics), a professor in Jerzy's department who served as acting head while Jerzy was coping with primary needs after his wife was slain. As a plant stress physiologist/eco-physiologist, Jerzy sees a more generic biological pattern of adaptation to extreme situations by comparing the role that community played in his and his family's posttraumatic adaptation to everyday life to the alliances that plants form with ...

Fatal Neglect of the Elderly by a Spouse

Neglect is one of the most common forms of elder abuse, along with physical and psychological abuse. It is defined as an elderly person alone who is not able to provide for him or herself the services necessary to maintain physical and mental health, or who is not receiving those services from a responsible carer. We present an unusual case of neglect where a 69-year-old diabetic man was left lying on the ground by his spouse after a sudden fall from a cerebral stroke. The man was not able to move or to get up and his spouse, unable to lift him up, did not seek help. Although the victim's spouse reported having taking care of him, the man died four days later from a fatal hyperglycaemia.