Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence And Unintended Pregnancy: Analysis of a National Sample From Colombia, The

CONTEXT: Intimate partner violence is associated with a number of reproductive and mental health question s However, the relationship between intimate partner violence and women's ability to superintendence their fertility has not been adequately explored, especially in developing countries.

METHODS: Data from the 2000 Demographic and Health observe for Colombia were used in multivariate logistic regressions to explore the relationship between intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy, which was included as a measure of fertility ascendency Regional differences in the relationship were also explored, and populationattributable risk estimates were calculated. The sample consisted of 3431 ever-married women aged 15-49 who had given birth in the last five years or were commonly pregnant.

RESULTS: Fifty-five percent of respondent had had at least single unintended pregnancy, and 38% had been physically or sexually abused by means of their current or most new partner. Women's adjusted odds of having had an unintended pregnancy were significantly elevated if they had been physically or sexually abused (odd ratio, 14); the association was observ in the Atl??ntica and Central regions (17 each), on the other hand was not significant elsewhere in thecountry. Eliminating intimate partner violence in Colombia would spring in an estimated 32,523-44,986 fewer unintended pregnancies each year.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the ne to include intimate partner violence screening and treatment in reproductive health programs, to further men's involvement in fertility sway programs, and to improve the social and political reply to intimate partner violence.

International Family Planning Perspectives, 200430(4):165-173

The infliction of violence by the agency of intimate partners is common in many societies and affects millions of women over the world each year. Partner abuse's private nature has made it difficult to quantify its prevalence, understand its risk factors or address its events In the last decade, however, research has revealed high rates of intimate partner violence in the United States and worldwide,1 and has identified more [i]or[/i] less of the direct and indirect health events of abuse, including mental and reproductive health problems2 Studies have also reported high rates of abuse during pregnancy3 and have linked of that kind abuse to intrauterine growth restriction, depressed birth weight, fetal and infant death and other maternal complications.4

However, the relationship between intimate partner violence and women's ability to superintendence their fertility has not been adequately explored, especially among women in developing countries.5 individual indicator of a lack of fertility dominion government is unintended (i.e., mistimed or unwanted) pregnancy, which has been associated with adverse results for women, fetuses and infants.6 Therefore, it is important to understand the risk factors for unintended pregnancy, particularly those related to intimate partner violence.

Some of the existing research upon intimate partner violence and fertility superintendence has focused on women's fear of violence as a barrier to contraceptive use in general.7 Other researchers have explored relationships between partner abuse and the use oi male way s because women may face violence when attempting to negotiate condom use,8 and between abuse and female meanss because partners may become abusive when they discover thicket use or suspect infidelity.9 While the anecdotal evidence from these studies helps clarify the mechanisms end which violence and fear of violence could affect fertility rule the issue merits further investigation.

With the exception of a small in number studies based on data from postpartum women in the United States, limited quantitative research has directly explored the relationship between intimate partner violence and fertility control10 Several studies set that women who had experienced intimate partner violence during pregnancy were more likely than nonabused women to report that the pregnancy was unplanned or closely spaced, or that they had had unhappy feelings about it.11 However, these studies examined bivariate relationships without controlling for other factors. Another close attention found no significant association between abuse and unwanted pregnancy, on the other hand the fact that mistimed pregnancies were categorized with wanted pregnancies may have affected the findings.12

Most induced abortions are of pregnancies that were unintended. Studies exploring intimate partner violence among women obtaining abortions therefore provide important information about the association between intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy.13 individual such study revealed a significant association between abuse and abortion.14 Three others base that rates of prior abortion were significantly higher among abused women than among nonabused women15

These studies provide a certain number of evidence that a relationship exists between partner abuse and unintended pregnancy. However, more investigation is straited to determine whether the relationship would be significant in a multivariate analysis and whether similar rises would be found in other adjoining matters particularly in developing countries. In this research we used multivariate logistic regressions to explore the relationship between intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy in a population-based sample of Colombian women It is the first close attention to explore this issue in a Latin American setting.