Intimate partner violence and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of exposure to intimate partner violence during pregnancy and to determine whether such exposure is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.


METHODS
We measured the prevalence of exposure to intimate partner violence and fear of a partner during pregnancy among 4750 residents of Vancouver, British Columbia, who gave birth between January 1999 and December 2000. We undertook a multivariate analysis to examine the associations with second- or third-trimester hemorrhage, preterm labor and delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, and perinatal death.


RESULTS
We report a prevalence rate of 1.2% for exposure to physical violence by an intimate partner during pregnancy and 1.5% for fear of a partner. Physical violence was associated with an increased risk of antepartum hemorrhage (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 3.79, 95% CI 1.38-10.40), intrauterine growth restriction (OR: 3.06, 95% CI 1.02-9.14), and perinatal death (OR: 8.06, 95% CI 1.42-45.63). Fear of a partner in the absence of physical violence was not associated with an elevated risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study confirms prior work reporting an association of physical abuse during pregnancy with intrauterine growth retardation and, in addition, reports an association with antepartum hemorrhage and perinatal death.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. pjanssen@interchange.ubc.ca
Patricia A
PA
Janssen
Victoria L
VL
Holt
Nancy K
NK
Sugg
Irvin
I
Emanuel
Cathy M
CM
Critchlow
Angela D
AD
Henderson
D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D014754:Violence