[Intimate partner violence in Spain]

To estimate mortality and the incidence of formal complaints of intimate partner violence (IPV) by age groups and Spanish provinces.

We performed a descriptive, epidemiological study of murders by intimate partners registered in the database of the Divorced and Separated Women's Federation (1998-2001) and of formal complaints of IPV in The Home Affairs database (1997-2000). The percentage of increase in formal complaints and deaths and the individual risk of dying from IPV and of reporting this crime was calculated through the simple accumulative method, specific mortality rates by age, average rates by provinces, and specific incidence rates of formal complaints of IPV by provinces. Finally, a simple regression analysis was performed to assess the relation between mortality and the incidence of formal complaints of IPV.

Between the first and the last year of the study, formal complaints increased by 27% and murders increased by 49%. In Spain, during the period analyzed, one out of every 100,000 women was murdered by an intimate partner and one out of every 200 women reported IPV. Women aged 22-41 years and those aged 82-86 years presented the highest rates of mortality from IPV. Mortality from IPV and the incidence of formal complaints of IPV showed no clear geographical pattern. No correlation between mortality and the incidence of formal complaints of IPV by provinces was found (corrected r2 = 0.016).

IPV is an increasing public health problem in Spain. There seems to be a bimodal curve by age in mortality from IPV, but no geographical patterns in mortality and the incidence of formal complaints of IPV or between the provinces with the highest incidence of formal complains and those with highest mortality were observed.