dc.contributor.author | Japhet, R | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-05-25T06:48:32Z | |
dc.date.available | 2013-05-25T06:48:32Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1992 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/11295/25544 | |
dc.description.abstract | The main objective for this study was to find out
psychiatric morbidity among the Gogo women coming from
polygamous and monogamous families and the factors
contributing to their development. Literature review
showed that research work by medical professionals in
this field is very scanty and often very difficult to
interpret because of lack of comparable studies.
However, from the few studies reviewed, there is
universal agreement that polygamy status causes
considerable emotional distress.
This descriptive study covered 150 cases of Gogo
women married to polygamous husbands who attended the
out-patient clinic at Chamwino Health Centre in Dodoma
and 150 controls of Gogo women from monogamous union
also attending the same clinic in Tanzania.
The study and the control population were obtained
by a systematic sampling method and were subjected to
a two stage screening procedure by the author. The
data collected was analysed manually.
Psychiatric morbidity among the women married to
polygamous men was 48% compared to 15.2% among the control
group. The prevalence of mental illness was significantly
higher among women from polygamous union than the control
2 group, x = (5.567,' df = 1, P = 0.01): The leading
diagnosis was that of depression followed by anxiety.
The prevalence rates of the study and the control
populations were compared with those of community studies
and found some significance difference. The possible
reasons for such a difference are discussed.
The pattern of the symptom presentation of the
illness among the two groups was however not significantly
different from those of other community studies done
elsewhere in Africa.
The study did not identify specific factors which
contributed to the development of mental illness in women
married to polygamous husbands.
From this study it is obvious that women married to
polygamous husbands have a problem as far as their mental
health is concerned and that there is need for a well
planned mental health service for women married to
polygamous husbands in Dodoma. The author has formulated
some recommendations which also clarify the role of the
country and voluntary agencies in the promotion of the
mental health of married women. | en |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.title | A descriptive study to find out psychiatric morbidity among Gogo women in polygamous and monogamous union in Dodoma - Tanzania | en |
dc.type | Thesis | en |
dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |