[Sociodemographic profile of women affected by intimate partner violence in Spain].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of reported intimate partner violence (IPV) and to analyze the main sociodemographic characteristics of affected women.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional study based on the Spanish National Health Survey of 2006. The sample comprised 13,094 women who agreed to answer questions about violence (87.2% of the total interviewees). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. The dependent variable was reported IPV and the independent variables were educational level, employment, marital status, living arrangements with the partner or analogous individual, number of children at home, nationality (Spanish vs. foreign women) and age.


RESULTS
IPV was reported by 1% (n=128) of the sample. Women with primary school education or without studies (odds ratio [OR]: 3.63 [1.90-6.92]), with three or more children (OR: 3.51 [1.78-6.90]), and those who were separated or divorced (OR: 2.81 [1.89-4.97]) were most likely to experience IPV when the effect of the remaining variables was controlled. The likelihood of IPV was also higher in women born outside Spain (OR: 2.83 [1.87-4.28]).


CONCLUSIONS
IPV seems not to affect Spanish and foreign women equally. The characteristics most closely associated with women affected by IPV were educational level, the number of children at home and marital status. The sensitivity of current measures against IPV should be considered in relation to the needs of affected women.
Vives-Cases
Carmen
C
Area de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidad de Alicante, Spain. carmen.vives@ua.es
Alvarez-Dardet
Carlos
C
Gil-González
Diana
D
Torrubiano-Domínguez
Jordi
J
Rohlfs
Izabella
I
Escribà-Agüir
Vicenta
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult