SOMATIC SYMPTOMS AND RELATED FACTORS OF EARLY-AGE MARRIAGE AMONG WOMEN: A POPULATION-BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Yıl 2016, Cilt: 7 Sayı: 25, - , 30.03.2016

Mahmut Bulut Mehmet Kaya Yasin Bez Mehmet Güneş Abdullah Atlı Süleyman Demir Aslıhan Okan İbiloğlu Cem Uysal Aytekin Sır

Öz

Aim: Child marriage still persists for various reasons in numerous countries and cultures including primarily the underdeveloped or developing countries in South Asia and  North Africa.  In this  study,  our  aim  is  to  focus  on  the  frequency  of  child  marriage  as  well as  the  family  characteristics  and  socio-cultural  factors  pertaining  to marriage,  frequency  of  domestic  violence,  and  somatic  symptoms  such  as  pain  of  unknown origin  among  the  women.

Methods: Our study was conducted using a questionnaire presented to 454 women aged 17-65 living in the provincial centre of Diyarbakir.

Results: The families of 17.3% of the participants had a history of migration before the marriage. Close-kin  marriage  was  present  between  the  parents  of  31.1%  of  the  women.  Among  the  participants,  17.3%  were  subjected  to  physical  abuse  and  1.8% were subjected to sexual abuse before the marriage. Among  the  women,  33.3%  replied  that  they  had  chronic  pain  of  unknown  origin  which  the physicians  could  not  diagnose.

Conclusions: We have observed that chronic pains of unknown origin pointing to somatisation are more frequent among women who get married  before  the  age  of  18.  The  results  of  our  study  point  out  that  underage  marriage  has  an  impact  not  only  on  sexual  and  reproductive  health,  but  also  on  general  health.

Key Words: Early age marriage, health consequences, pain of unknown origin

Anahtar Kelimeler

-

Kaynakça

• U.N. Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women 2009. Available from: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/.
• UNICEF. Protecting Against Abuse, Exploitation And Violence: Child Marriage: UNICEF; 2007. Available from: http://www.unicef.org/progressforchildren/2007n6/index_41848.htm.
• Ahmad K. Pregnancy complications kill 70,000 teenagers a year. Lancet. 2004;363(9421):1616-.
• Edirne T, Can M, Kolusari A, Yildizhan R, Adali E, Akdag B. Trends, characteristics, and outcomes of adolescent pregnancy in eastern Turkey. International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. 2010;110(2):105-8.
• Raj A. When the mother is a child: the impact of child marriage on the health and human rights of girls. Arch Dis Child. 2010;95(11):931-5.
• Le Strat Y, Dubertret C, Le Foll B. Child marriage in the United States and its association with mental health in women. Pediatrics. 2011;128(3):524-30.
• Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies, Turkey Demographic and Health Survey. In: Tezcan S, editor. Ankara, Turkey: Hacettepe Üniversitesi Hastaneleri Basımevi; 2008.
• Ertem M, Saka G, Ceylan A, Deger V, Ciftci S. The factors associated with adolescent marriages and outcomes of adolescent pregnancies in Mardin Turkey. J Comp Fam Stud. 2008;39(2):229-39.
• Gokce B, Ozsahin A, Zencir M. Determinants of adolescent pregnancy in an urban area in Turkey: a population-based case-control study. Journal of biosocial science. 2007;39(2):301-11.
• Ertem M, Kocturk T. Opinions on early-age marriage and marriage customs among Kurdish-speaking women in southeast Turkey. The journal of family planning and reproductive health care / Faculty of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. 2008;34(3):147-52.
• Institute TS. Provincial/county center and town/village populations - 2011 2011. Available from: http://rapor.tuik.gov.tr/reports/rwservlet?adnksdb2&ENVID=adnksdb2Env&report=wa_turkiye_il_koy_sehir.RDF&p_il1=21&p_kod=2&p_yil=2011&p_dil=1&desformat=html.
• Nault F. Twenty years of marriages. Health reports / Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Health Information = Rapports sur la sante / Statistique Canada, Centre canadien d'information sur la sante. 1996;8(2):39-47(Eng); 1-50.
• Aryal RH. Socioeconomic and cultural differentials in age at marriage and the effect on fertility in Nepal. Journal of biosocial science. 1991;23(2):167-78.
• Türk Medeni Kanunu (The Turkish Civil Code ), Stat. 4721 (22 Kasım 2001, 2001).
• Definition of the bride price Turkish Language Institute. Available from: http://www.tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_gts&arama=gts&guid=TDK.GTS.52fe0ad72a7122.20555598.
• Nour NM. Health consequences of child marriage in Africa. Emerging infectious diseases. 2006;12(11):1644-9.
• Svanemyr J, Chandra-Mouli V, Christiansen CS, Mbizvo M. Preventing child marriages: first international day of the girl child "my life, my right, end child marriage". Reproductive health. 2012;9:31.
• Santhya KG. Early marriage and sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities of young women: a synthesis of recent evidence from developing countries. Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology. 2011;23(5):334-9.
• Golding JM. Sexual assault history and limitations in physical functioning in two general population samples. Research in nursing & health. 1996;19(1):33-44.
• Finkelhor D. The international epidemiology of child sexual abuse. Child abuse & neglect. 1994;18(5):409-17.
• Williams AC, Johnson M. Persistent pain: not a medically unexplained symptom. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. 2011;61(591):638-9.
• Marin C, Carron R. The origin of the concept of somatization. Psychosomatics. 2002;43(3):249-50.
• Lipowski ZJ. Somatization: the concept and its clinical application. The American journal of psychiatry. 1988;145(11):1358-68.