The prevalence of intimate partner violence among women and teenagers seeking abortion compared with those continuing pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among women and teenagers seeking termination of pregnancy compared with those continuing with pregnancy.

METHODS

All women who presented for elective termination of pregnancy at a family planning clinic between June 2001 and January 2003 were invited to participate. This study was conducted by means of face-to-face interviews with clinic nurses. The control group was composed of women who were continuing with pregnancy.

RESULTS

In total, 1003 women were interviewed, including 350 at the family planning clinic (elective abortion [EA] group) and 653 women at the perinatal clinic (continuing pregnancy [CP] group). For women in the EA group, the probability of being a victim of IPV in the past year (including psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse) was almost three times higher than for women in the CP group (25.7% vs. 9.3%, P < 0.0001), and the risk of being a victim of physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year was almost four times higher (7.1% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.0001). Women in the EA group had also more often been victims of violence in their lifetime (41.1% vs. 29.1%, P = 0.0001). The principal factors predictive of having been a victim of physical and/or sexual IPV in the past year were being single, separated, divorced, or widowed, and being in a relationship that was in difficulty or breaking down. In the multivariate analysis adjusted for confounding factors, age was rarely a significant factor.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence rates of IPV among women seeking elective abortion justifies routine assessment for IPV during pre-abortion visits. Physicians have access to tools that will help them to identify IPV and to be proactive regarding this important issue.