Intimate Partner Violence and Gynecologic Health: Focus on Women in Kentucky

The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis was to determine whether women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) had higher prevalence rates of poor gynecologic health defined as ever having a sexually transmitted infection (STI), cervical neoplasia, chronic pelvic pain, frequent urinary tract infection or bladder incontinence, menstrual irregularities, and menopausal symptoms. Included in the sample were women ages 18-88 who joined the Kentucky Women's Health Registry (2006-2007) and completed an extensive online questionnaire. Of 4,708 participants with no missing data on IPV and confounding factors (e.g. age, pack years smoking, education level), 36% had ever experienced IPV. IPV was associated with having an STI (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.9; 95% CI =1.7-2.2), invasive cervical cancer (aRR = 2.6; 95% CI =1.7- 4.0), and chronic pelvic pain (aRR=1.6; 95% CI=1.2-2.1). IPV was also associated with having frequent urinary tract infections (aRR=1.4; 95% CI=1.1-1.9) and pelvic pain in the past year (aRR=1.4; 95% CI=1.1-1.7). IPV was associated with a range of menstrual irregularities including premenstrual syndrome (aRR=1.6; 95% CI=1.3-2.0) and in the past year with menstrual mood swings, (aRR=1.3; 95% CI=1.2-1.5), irregular menses (aRR=1.5; 95% CI=1.3-1.8), painful menses (aRR=1.4; 95% CI=1.2-1.6), and prolonged menses (aRR=1.8; 95% CI=1.5-2.1). Finally, IPV was associated with urinary incontinence (aRR=1.2; 95% CI=1.1-1.5) yet not with other menopausal symptoms among older women. Screening for lifetime and current IPV may help clinicians identify women at greater risk of potentially preventable gynecologic health conditions.