Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence among Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Ilorin, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among women living with HIV/AIDS is high and this has deleterious consequences on their physical and psychosocial health. Despite the huge burden and the associated adverse effects, researches on this subject remain limited most especially in the Sub-sahara Africa region, which is the world's epicenter of HIV/AIDS. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence and pattern of IPV and to identify its socio-demographic risk factors among HIV-positive women attending the Highly Active Antiretroviral (HAART) clinics at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, North-Central Nigeria.
Methods: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 310 HIV-positive adult women attending University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital using systematic sampling technique. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on IPV and socio-demographic characteristics of participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and pvalue of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2), the results of this study showed that the overall annual prevalence of IPV in women living with HIV/AIDS was 60.7%. The most common form of violence in this study was psychological aggression (84.7%), followed by sexual coercion (58.8%), then physical assault (24.1%) and physical assault with injury (15.9%). There was a statistically significant association between IPV and respondents' age (p-value=0.003) and social class (p-value=0.009).
Conclusion: Because of the high prevalence of IPV among HIV-positive women, physicians attending to this group of patients should routinely screen them for IPV, particularly the young ones and those in high socio-economic class

Key words: Intimate partner violence, HIV, women, prevalence