[Intimate partner violence and suicidal ideation among pregnant women in Southern Brazil]

The scope of this study was to analyze the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and suicidal ideation among pregnant women in southern Brazil. It involved a cross-sectional study with pregnant women from Primary Health Care in Criciúma, Brazil, in 2022. Suicidal ideation was assessed using the validated PHQ-9 questionnaire, and IPV was evaluated using the World Health Organization Violence Against Women questionnaire. Crude and adjusted Poisson regression analyses were performed. Of the 389 pregnant women evaluated, the majority were aged 20 to 30 years (58.1%), of white skin color (68.1%), one-third had up to 8 years of education (29%), and approximately half had an income between R$ 1,001.00 and R$ 2,000.00 (45%). Most did not engage in physical activity (91.2%), and 13.6% experienced IPV during pregnancy, with 7.4% reporting suicidal ideation. In the adjusted analysis, pregnant women who experienced IPV were 2.44 times more likely to have suicidal ideation than those who did not experience IPV (95%CI: 1.11; 5.36). The data revealed that IPV during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation.