News at HSPHIntimate partner violence (IPV) has been reported in previous studies to increase women's risk for HIV infection. However, a new study by HSPH associate professor S.V. Subramanian and doctoral student Guy Harling found that IPV is not consistently associated with HIV-risk worldwide. The researchers examined the relationship between women's self-reported experiences of IPV in their most recent relationship and their laboratory-confirmed HIV status in ten low- to middle-income countries. Data for the study, which involved a cross-section of women aged 15–49 years, came from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys in Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The study appeared online in PLoS One on December 8, 2010.
Further research is needed to determine whether the relationship between IPV and HIV in specific countries differs depending on whether the study population is clinic-based or uses a national sample, according to the researchers. Additionally, more research is needed to understand the circumstances in which IPV and HIV are and are not associated with one another.
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