Physical abuse in basic-education schools in Aden governorate, Yemen: a cross-sectional study

Physical abuse in school has lifelong consequences affecting child health and educational achievements. A study was designed to assess the prevalence of physical abuse experienced by pupils in basic-education schools in Aden, Yemen, and to examine the risk factors associated with it. A cross-sectional study covering 1066 pupils in 7th-9th grades from 8 schools in different districts of Aden governorate were randomly selected. Answering an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, 55.7% of pupils reported physical abuse at least once in their school lifetime (73.2% of males versus 26.6% of females). Teachers were the main perpetrators (45.4%). A statistically significant association was found between physical abuse and sex, age group, family type and father's education. Significant predictors of physical abuse on multivariate regression were male sex (OR=7.89) and extended family type (OR=1.36). Physical abuse in basic-education schools requires serious consideration by educational authorities, families and the community at large.