Opioid Use and Intimate Partner Violence: a Systematic Review

Abstract

The goal of this review was to answer two questions: A) What is the prevalence of opioid use in samples of people who are victims and/or perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV), and B) what is the prevalence of IPV among those who have used opioids? There were five times as many research studies of IPV in people who use opioids (B) than of opioids in IPV-experienced people (A). Across the five studies that reported estimates of opioid use among IPV-experienced people, for victimization, estimates ranged from 2.4% having an opioid use disorder (OUD) to 46–50% having had a prescription for opioid as an analgesic in the past 5 years. For perpetration, there was a sole study which found that 1.5% of a sample of perpetrators of IPV reported having an OUD. The prevalence of IPV victimization among women who had used opioids was 36–94% in their lifetimes, and 32–75% in the past year. For men who had used opioids, the prevalence of IPV perpetration ranged from 15% perpetrating severe physical IPV or a gun/knife threat in the past year to 58% reporting any IPV perpetration in their lifetimes. IPV is frequent among people who use opioids. Opioid use appears to be elevated in IPV victims and/or perpetrators as compared with the general population. Research is needed on the prevalence of opioid use in samples of IPV-experienced people, including initiation of use and how opioid use influences risk for IPV.