Association between intimate partner violence during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth

BMC Public Health

Emmanuel Kolawole Odusina¹  Nicholas Kofi Adjei²  Sanni Yaya³  Olalekan A. Uthman⁴ 

[1] Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Federal University, Oye, Ekiti, Nigeria;Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK;School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, 120 University Private, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, ON, Canada;The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, UK;Warwick Centre for Applied Health Research and Delivery (WCAHRD), Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK;

关键词: Women;    Intimate partner violence;    Preterm birth;    Global health;    Zimbabwe;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-11625-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPreterm birth is a risk factor for child survival in both the short and long term. In Zimbabwe, the prevalence of preterm birth is rising, and there are growing concerns about the adverse consequences. This study explored the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and preterm birth in Zimbabwe.MethodsUsing data from the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, we applied propensity score matching to estimate the effect of IPV during pregnancy on preterm birth among women of reproductive age (15–49 years). A total of 4833 pregnant women who gave birth during the five years preceding the survey were analysed.ResultsWe successfully matched 79 women who were exposed to IPV during pregnancy to 372 unexposed during pregnancy. Using the matched sample, the probability of preterm delivery was significantly higher among women who were exposed to IPV during pregnancy than those who were not exposed. The findings showed that 7 out of 79 (8.9%) of women exposed to IPV during pregnancy experienced preterm delivery, and 11 out of 372 (3.0%) of those who were not exposed to IPV during pregnancy experienced preterm delivery. In the urban areas, those exposed to IPV during pregnancy were almost five times more likely to experience preterm delivery (OR = 4.8, 95% CI 2.0–11.6), but the association was not significantly different among women in rural areas.ConclusionThe findings showed that women exposed to IPV during pregnancy were at increased risk of preterm birth. Some of the risk factors associated with IPV were urban residence, low economic status and unemployment. Effective policies and programmes are required to address the issue of IPV in Zimbabwe.

【 授权许可】

CC BY