Premium
The association of intimate partner violence with unintended pregnancy and pregnancy loss in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Zakar Rubeena,
Nasrullah Muazzam,
Zakar Muhammad Z.,
Ali Hussain
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.09.009
Subject(s) - unintended pregnancy , domestic violence , pregnancy , medicine , abortion , reproductive health , obstetrics , logistic regression , sexual violence , odds ratio , unsafe abortion , demography , poison control , family planning , population , injury prevention , environmental health , nursing , pathology , biology , sociology , research methodology , genetics
Objective To determine if intimate partner violence (IPV) was associated with unintended pregnancy and pregnancy loss among married women in Pakistan. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted using nationally representative cross‐sectional secondary data from women of reproductive age who were currently married and had participated in the domestic violence module of the 2012–13 Pakistan Demographic and Heath Survey. Unintended pregnancy and pregnancy loss were defined as any mistimed or unwanted pregnancy, and any pregnancy that resulted in spontaneous abortion, induced abortion, or stillbirth, respectively. Associations with IPV were assessed by calculating adjusted odds ratios using logistic regression models. Results Data from 3518 individuals were included. Pregnancy loss had been experienced by 1282 (36.4%) participants and unintended pregnancy was reported by 391 (19.5%) of 2005 individuals this information was available for. In total, 1335 (37.9%) participants reported having ever experienced any form of IPV, including 919 (26.1%), 1112 (31.6%), and 697 (19.8%) participants who had experienced physical, emotional, and both emotional and physical IPV. Significant associations were observed between participants experiencing either physical or emotional IPV, emotional IPV, and both emotional and physical IPV, and unintended pregnancy ( P = 0.017, P < 0.001, and P = 0.011, respectively) and pregnancy loss ( P = 0.002, P = 0.005, and P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions There is an urgent need to develop preventive strategies to reduce intramarital IPV and its associated poor health outcomes.