Intimate partner violence among women attending a general practice clinic in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There has been an increasing concern about the magnitude of violence against women, especially pregnant women in Nigeria. The long-term health impact of violence on the victims as well as the difficulty in directly associating violence with the health outcome of the victims is understudied in Nigeria. This study aimed to determine associations between physical health outcomes and intimate partner violence (IPV) in adult females attending a general practice clinic. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 360 participants recruited using systematic sampling methods. A modified Abuse Assessment Screen tool was used to screen for IPV and the data were analyzed using version 21 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The prevalence of IPV in this study was 80%. Sexual abuse had the highest prevalence (56.4%), followed by physical and psychological abuse which had the prevalence of 46.7% and 31.9%, respectively. The common risk factors for IPV observed in this study included younger age of respondents, having a large family size, being employed, and partner's educational status. The common comorbidities found among the respondents experiencing IPV included hypertension, pelvic inflammatory disease, peptic acid disorders, osteoarthritis, and depressive illnesses. Alcohol use by partners was the most common perceived reason given by the respondents for their partners' perpetration of IPV. Conclusion: IPV as a part of violence against women remains very high and underreported in our society. The study showed a strong association between IPV and hypertension; this should be of interest to health-care practitioners and researchers.