Intimate Partner Violence and its Relation with Health Problems at 12th Month after Delivery in Women referred to Health Centers of Tabriz in 2015 – 2016.

Abstract

ntroduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is very common and is associated with serious complications for women and family health. IPV takes a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual abuse. Violence can lead to decreased life satisfaction in women and breakdown of the family system. Puerperium is the period of about six weeks after childbirth, which the mother's reproductive organs return to their pre – pregnancy form, but many problems have been seen for a long time (one year or even 18 months) after delivery. There are lack of evidence of prevalence of domestic violence and postpartum health problems and their relationship in the world, especially Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to determine prevalence and chronicity of the different types of violence during the first year and prevalence of common problems in the 12th month postpartum and their relationship. Methods: In this cross-sectional correlation study, 398 eligible women were examined at 12 months after childbirth when referred to the public health care centers for their children vaccination in Tabriz from October 2015 to April 2016.The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) was used to assess IPV and Edinburgh for depression. SPSS version 19 was used for the data analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were described using mean and/or median (standard deviation and/or percentile 25-75), and frequency (number and percentage), respectively. Chi-square test was used for determine the relationship between violence and health problems. The predictors of IPV were determined using bivariate binary logistic regression. Results: More than half (58%) of the women reported experience of one or more instances of any form of IPV (psychological, physical, sexual and/or injury) and one third reported physical and/or sexual IPV in the first postpartum year. Reported prevalence of each form of IPV were: 54% psychological, 21% physical, 21% sexual and 13% injury. Predictor factors of overall IPV were: woman age less than 30 years [adjusted odds ratio 2.0 (95% CI (1.3 to 3.3)], unplanned pregnancy [1.6 (1.03 to 2.6)], unwanted infant sex [1.9 (1.1 to 3.2)] and inability to fully meet their husbands’ sexual expectations [1.6 (1.03 to 2.4)].The frequency of at least one health problem was 77% in at 12 months after childbirth and the most common problems were backache (48%), sleep disorders (43%), headache (27%) and sexual dysfunction (23%). About 38% of women were depressed at 12 months after childbirth. There was a statistically significant relationship between IPV and any of the health problems and depression. Conclusion: The study results shows that the prevalence of IPV is high during the first post-partum year and it associated with increase in the mother's health problems in the postpartum. The results of the limited studies conducted in other countries might not be generalizable to this specific region due to the effect of cultural and social factors on the effectiveness of the interventions. Therefore, it is recommended that intervention studies be carried out to reduce its prevalence and\or chronicity