AUTHOR=Román-Gálvez Rosario M. , Martín-Peláez Sandra , Fernández-Félix Borja M. , Zamora Javier , Khan Khalid S. , Bueno-Cavanillas Aurora 

TITLE=Worldwide Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.738459

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.738459

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects outcomes of mothers and their offspring. This systematic review collated the worldwide literature on the prevalence rates of different types of IPV in pregnancy.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Two reviewers independently identified cross sectional and cohort studies of IPV prevalence in pregnancy in online databases (PubMed, WOS and Scopus), selected and extracted data [participants' country, study quality, measurement tool (validation and purpose) and rates of IPV in pregnancy]. We considered a high quality study if it had a prospective design, an adequate sampling method, a sample size estimation, a response rate &gt; 90%, a contemporary ascertainment of IPV in the index pregnancy, and a well-developed detailed IPV tool. We performed random effects meta-analysis and explored reasons for heterogeneity of rates.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> One hundred fifty-five studies were included, of which 44 (28%) met two-thirds of the quality criteria. Worldwide prevalence of physical (126 studies, 220,462 participants), psychological (113 studies, 189,630 participants) and sexual (98 studies, 155,324 participants) IPV in pregnancy was 9.2% (95% CI 7.7–11.1%, I<sup>2</sup> 95.9%), 18.7% (15.1–22.9%, I<sup>2</sup> 98.2%), 5.5% (4.0–7.5%, I<sup>2</sup> 93.4%), respectively. Where several types of IPV were reported combined, the prevalence of any kind of IPV (118 studies, 124,838 participants) was 25.0% (20.3, 30.5%, I<sup>2</sup> 98.6%). IPV rates varied within and between continents, being the highest in Africa and the lowest in Europe (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Rates also varied according to measurement purpose, being higher for diagnosis than for screening, in physical (<italic>p</italic> = 0.022) and sexual (<italic>p</italic> = 0.014) IPV.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> IPV prevalence in pregnancy varies across countries, with one-quarter of mothers exposed on average globally. Routine systematic antenatal detection should be applied worldwide.</p><p><bold>Systematic Review Registration:</bold> identifier: CRD42020176131.</p>