Intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy: prevalence and associated factors

Ana Carolina Da C Azevêdo,Sandra Valongueiro,Ana Bernarda Ludermir,Thália Velho Barreto De Araújo

doi:10.1590/0102-311x00161111

Ana Carolina Da C Azevêdo, Sandra Valongueiro + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311x00161111

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Abstract

This study investigated the association between unintended pregnancy and intimate partner violence before pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,054 women, aged 18 to 49, in Recife, Northeastern Brazil, from July 2005 to March 2006. Non-conditional logistic regression analysis was performed with a hierarchical strategy for entering variables into the model, according to the conceptual framework defined. Unintended pregnancy was reported by 60.3% (636) women. Intimate partner violence prior to the pregnancy was associated with unintended pregnancy (ORadj = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.17-2.11), even when adjusted for the women's sociodemographic characteristics, the partner's behaviour, and the relationship dynamic. When the association was adjusted for the use of contraception and the partner's refusal to use contraception, the association was no longer significant, suggesting that the effect of partner violence on unintended pregnancy may be mediated by these variables. The findings point to the need of screening for intimate partner violence in reproductive health services.

Highlights

Unintended pregnancy has been incorporated into the reproductive health research agenda due to its adverse outcomes for women and child’s health 1
Intimate partner violence suffered prior to the current pregnancy was reported by 32.4% (n = 341) of women (Table 1)
In the subgroup who reported psychological violence alone, the probability of unintended pregnancy was 1.55 (95%CI: 0.982.46); for those who reported physical and/or sexual violence, it was 1.75 (95%CI: 1.24-2.48); and for those who reported all forms of violence, it was 3.15 (1.37-7.52), in comparison with those that had not suffered violence

Summary

Introduction

Unintended pregnancy has been incorporated into the reproductive health research agenda due to its adverse outcomes for women and child’s health 1. This is a difficult area of reproductive health to study, especially because the terms “unwanted”, “unplanned” and “unintended” have different meanings for the women and for researchers [2,3]. In other studies [2,3], this term has overlapped with “planned pregnancies”, using different criteria to classify a pregnancy as intended or otherwise. While the use of contraceptives in Brazil is widespread, there is a high proportion of unintended pregnancies. The National Survey of Demographic and Health 2006 (PNDS 2006) estimated that, of all births occurred in Brazil between 2001 and 2006, 46% were unplanned, 28% of which being mistimed and 18% unwanted 5

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