Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Primary Health Care Use for Children: Evidences from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Objectives To assess whether severe physical intimate partner violence (PIPV) after childbirth affects the number of pediatric visits in Primary Health Care (PHC) units during this period. Methods Cross-sectional study including 927 mothers of infants under 6 months, users of 27 PHC units in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PIPV from childbirth to the date of interview was measured using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). The number of pediatric visits in the first 6 months of life was the outcome measure of interest. Poisson and multinomial regression models were used for data analysis to control for confounders. Results Children of mothers who experienced severe PIPV had a reduced number of pediatric visits than those not reporting it. This finding was identified only among children who had health problems: relative to five or more baseline pediatric visits, the chance of 3-4 and 1-2 visits increased three- and five-fold, respectively, when severe PIPV was present. Conclusions The maternal experience of severe PIPV reduces the number of pediatric visits in PHC services among the most vulnerable children. This is a hindrance to adequate health promotion, prevention and care, required for the healthy growth and development of children. Early violence detection by pediatricians and other health professionals could be a step in the right direction.
['Moraes|Claudia Leite de|CL|', 'Oliveira|Aline Gaudard E Silva de|AG|', 'Reichenheim|Michael Eduardo|ME|']
D000328:Adult D001938:Brazil D002675:Child, Preschool D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D007407:Interviews as Topic D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence D009035:Mothers D049590:Postpartum Period D011320:Primary Health Care D013179:Spouse Abuse D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Primary health care Child health services Domestic violence Spouse abuse