The Prevalence of Spouse Abuse During Pregnancy and Its Related Factors in Guilan Province in 2019

Spousal abuse in pregnancy leads to adverse consequences in mother and neonate and its prevalence is far higher than other dangerous complications during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of spousal abuse during pregnancy and its related factors in Guilan Province.

This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study included 1541 parous women referring to 160 selected health care delivery units for their babies' two-month vaccination in 2019. We used random multi-stage cluster sampling for sample collection. Data were collected using a valid and reliable self-administered questionnaire consisted of demographic variables and spouse abuse questionnaire during pregnancy. Using SPSS-26 software, data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical tests such as mean, chi-square and binary logistic regression. α <0.05 was considered significant.

The mean (SD) age of the women participating in the study was 29.2±5.6 years. The overall prevalence rate of spousal abuse in pregnancy was 71.3% and women had been abused by their spouses at least once during pregnancy with frequency of "sometimes" to "always". The prevalence rates of emotional (the most common), physical and sexual violence were 69.5%, 32.2% and 15.1% respectively. Husbands' substance abuse (Odd Ratio-OR= 2.38, 95% CI: 1.7, 3.34), couples' dissatisfaction of the gender of the fetus (OR= 1.91, 95% CI: 1.09, 3.35), lack of family support for mothers (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.57) and extended family (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.84) were found to be positively and significantly associated with spousal abuse during pregnancy.

Use of effective strategies in order to reduce the factors associated with spousal abuse can be effective in preventing and decreasing the rate of this social problem and its negative consequences.