Intimate partner violence and associated factors in an obstetric population in Jos, North-central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is a human right and public health concern, often life-threatening to both the mother and fetus. This study sought to ascertain the prevalence of IPV, pattern, and associated factors in a Nigerian obstetric population. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among 338 pregnant women at term between January and July 2015 using pretested self-administered questionnaires to ascertain their sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics as well as partners' features. IPV was assessed using the hurt, insult, threaten, and scream validated screening tool. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 for windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Multivariate analysis was done to ascertain associated factors for IPV and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of IPV among women was 14.8% (50/338). One hundred and twenty-seven respondents (37.6%) suffered verbal abuse, 28.4% had physical violence, while 5.3% reported sexual abuse. Most of the women, i.e., 72.0% (36/50) did not report violence and 76.0% (38/50) disclosed that they still felt safe in their marital relationship. Independent risk factors for IPV were duration of marriage of 6.8 years (P = 0.04, odds ratio [OR] =8.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] =7.8–9.9), maternal primary educational status (P = 0.02, OR = 10.7, 95% CI = 1.1–103.1), and male partner cigarette smoking (P = 0.003, OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 3.0–316.0). Conclusion: IPV during pregnancy is common in this obstetric population. Screening for IPV should be a part of routine antenatal care, especially among women with long marriage duration, primary educational status, and those whose husbands smoking cigarettes is recommended.