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Claudia Diaz, PhD¹, Sandra Garcia, ScD, ScM¹, Rita Revollo, MD², Danny Tarqui, BA³, Freddy Tinajeros, MPH², Daniel Grossman, MD⁴, and Kara Richmond, MPH³. (1) Population Council Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 01070, 52 55 5999 8630, cdiaz@popcouncil.org.mx, (2) Population Council, Calle 17 de Calacoto #8082, Zona Sur, La Paz, Bolivia, (3) Independent consultant, Calle 17 de Calacoto 8082, Zona Sur, La Paz, Bolivia, (4) Reproductive Health Program, Ibis Reproductive Health, 3333 California Street, Suite 335, San Francisco, CA 94143-0744

OBJECTIVE: Determine the prevalence of domestic violence (DV) among pregnant syphilis-positive Bolivian women. METHODS: We administered an anonymous questionnaire to 4,854 women measuring physical and/or sexual violence. We calculated prevalence of DV and possible associations between DV and syphilis. Women suffering current abuse were compared with non-victims using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Physical and/or sexual abuse in the previous year was reported by 1,029 (21%, 95% C.I. 20-22%) women. Abuse was rated as severe by 72% of victims. Prevalence of abuse during childhood was reported by 1,038 women (21%, 95% C.I. 20-23%). The prevalence of physical abuse during the current pregnancy was 5.4% (95% C.I. 4.8-6.0%). The following risk factors were associated with physical and/or sexual abuse (p< 0.5): positive diagnosis for syphilis (OR=1.91, 95% CI 1.44-2.53), grade school education only (OR=1.78, 95% CI 1.30-2.44), having three or more pregnancies (OR=1.34, 95% CI 1.12-1.61), and age between 12 and 16 (OR=1.57, 95% CI 1.12-2.02). Of the women suffering current abuse, 8.2% had syphilis compared to 4% of women not currently experiencing abuse (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: DV is a significant problem among pregnant women in Bolivia. A positive diagnosis for syphilis may put them at greater risk for abuse during pregnancy. Universal screening for STIs and DV among women attending prenatal care should be implemented in low resource settings.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe the problem of domestic violence during pregnancy.
• To understand the relationship between positive syphilis diagnosis and domestic violence among Bolivian pregnant women.

Keywords: Domestic Violence, Syphilis Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered