Factors Associated with Physical Domestic Violence Against Women in Countries of Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR): A Systematic Review and Metanalysis

This systematic review is to sum up evidences from the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)، on factors associated with physical domestic violence (DV). Pubmed، EMBASE، ISI، PsycInfo، IMEMR، Ovid، Global health، Cochrane Library، IranMedex، SID، IranDoc، Science Direct، Elsevier، Proquest and Magiran were searched with no language limits up to December 30، 2011. The hand searching included papers lists of references and evidence list of «The National Agenda for Preventing Domestic Violence». Quantitative studies on ever partnered، not-pregnant women in the EMR countries، which referred to either predisposing or protective factors of physical DV، in each of victims، perpetrators and community domains، were selected. A criterion based critical appraisal was performed by two reviewers. We applied random effects model to pool odds ratio (OR) estimates، Cochran’s Q test to assess hetrogenity، Begg’s rank correlation test and Egger’s regression method to assess publication bias. According to the meta-analysis، receiving university education by women is a protective factor against physical DV، while women not being employed in paid jobs are more prone to physical DV. There are many Factors Associated with Physical Domestic Violence Against Women in Countries of Eastern Mediterranean Region at the level of victim، perpetrator and family/societal characteristics. These factors are remarkably similar to those reported from other countries.