Impacts of COVID-19 on family violence in Thailand: prevalence and influencing factors.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected societies globally, prompting rising unemployment, insufficient household incomes, and stress and undermining women's and children's health within families. This study examined family violence and identified influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. METHODS: A mixed-method design was used, entailing a questionnaire followed by focus group interviews. A cross-sectional survey was administered to investigate family violence among 1285 female respondents aged 15 years and above who were recruited through stratified sampling. The Cronbach alpha and and inter-raters Kappa coefficient values for the questionnaire were 0.67 and 1.00, respectively. In addition, a descriptive qualitative instrument was employed to analyze the data sets from four focus group interviews held with 32 staff members from agencies that deal with family violence. The researchers jointly developed the focus group questions, which focused on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family violence. They independently analyzed data using content analysis. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were aged above 45 years (>50%), married (61.1%), lived in single-family settings (52.5%), had lost their jobs (64.4%), and had economic constraints that were moderate (37.8%) to severe (40.6%). The prevalence of family violence, which was primarily physical, was 42.2%. Family income, stress, and substance abuse were the main factors associated with family violence. These findings were correlated with those from the qualitative interviews. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had indirect impacts through family violence. Women were subjected to family violence behaviors, which were associated with household income, economic status, stress, and substance abuse. These behaviors included psychological and physical violence, as well as sexual abuse. Future interventions should focus on financial support and stress reduction.

Rates, types, and associated factors of acute adverse effects after the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine administration in Thailand.

Objectives: Effective vaccines are prioritized to curtail the transmission and burden of coronavirus disease 2019. Nevertheless, monitoring the safety of vaccines is crucial. As Thailand began the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, our study examined the acute adverse effects and associated factors after the first dose of vaccination. Methods: A mobile self-report questionnaire was employed to assess the rates and types of different side-effects within 3 days of the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine administration. The risk factors associated with these side-effects were analyzed. Results: In total, 774 participants were included in the survey, with a mean (± standard deviation) age of 49.5 (± 17.2) years. The majority (57.8%) were females, and 59.1% were anxious before the vaccination. Side-effects after the vaccination were a common occurrence (65.2%), but most (42.6%) were mild. Side-effects were significantly associated (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]) with younger age (4.32 [2.26-8.23]; p < 0.001; age < 30 years vs ≥ 60 years), female sex (1.66 [1.19-2.30], p = 0.003), anxiousness (2.10 [1.06-4.13]; p = 0.033; moderate-severe anxiousness vs none), and allergic disease (2.60 [1.07-6.31]; p = 0.035). Conclusions: After the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, most acute adverse effects were mild and often noted among participants with younger age, female sex, anxiousness, and allergic disease.