Intimate partner violence and its association with women's reproductive health in Pakistan

To determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Pakistan and its association with reproductive health outcomes.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 8 hospitals in Lahore and Sialkot between October 2008 and January 2009. Information from randomly selected ever-married women of reproductive age was collected via a structured interview. Psychologic, physical, and sexual violence was categorized as "no" or "severe" violence. Associations between reproductive health outcomes and violence were assessed by multivariate logistic regression.

Among 373 women interviewed, 75.9% reported severe psychologic, 34.6% reported severe sexual, and 31.9% reported severe physical violence at least once in marital life. Women who experienced severe physical violence were more likely to have their husband's noncooperation in using contraceptives (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.93-5.68), poor prenatal care (AOR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.23-3.69), unplanned pregnancies (AOR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.39-3.76), and poor self-reported reproductive health (AOR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.71-4.91) as compared with non-abused women. Similar associations existed for other types of violence.

The results highlight the magnitude of violence and its association with reproductive health of women. Urgent action is needed to mitigate the violence and its consequential damage to health.