Survey of intimate partner violence before and during pregnancy among Japanese women

Intimate partner violence (IPV) causes serious health problems, which could be life-threatening to pregnant women and their babies. Despite several IPV studies in Japan, the screening timeframe for IPV during pregnancy remains unclear. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IPV among Japanese women before and during pregnancy.

A survey was conducted at a hospital's outpatient clinic in Nagano, Japan, during October through December 2011 and March through July 2012. The Violence Against Women Screen (VAWS) questionnaire was distributed to 93 eligible women and 84 (89.5%) agreed to be assessed for the occurrence of IPV before and during pregnancy.

The mean VAWS total score before pregnancy was 1.43 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.64; range, 0-7), and during pregnancy it was 0.83 (SD = 1.03; range, 0-6), and was significantly different (t = 4.98, P < 0.001). In addition, more women experienced IPV prior to pregnancy (34.9%) than during pregnancy (20.7%). All women who screened positive during pregnancy were also positive before pregnancy. Prevalence of intimate partner physical violence was 4.9% prior to pregnancy and declined to 3.7% during pregnancy.

Even though the prevalence of IPV during pregnancy had decreased compared with before pregnancy, all women experiencing IPV before pregnancy continued to be victimized during pregnancy. Therefore, IPV screening questions should include IPV that had occurred a year prior.