The status of intimate partner violence against pregnant women in contemporary China: a scoping review.
Xue Mei Fan, Hae Won Kim
PMID 38650326WHAT IT FOUND
IPV during pregnancy in China was reported in 20 studies, often psychological, and linked to maternal mental health, bleeding, preterm birth, breastfeeding difficulty and child neglect.
Victims rarely told professionals, so nurses may need to ask about IPV.
Key findings
01IPV during pregnancy in China was reported in 20 studies, with rates from 2.2% to 31.3%; among studies detailing violence types, psychological violence was the most common.
02IPV during pregnancy was associated with maternal stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and suicidal tendencies, vaginal bleeding, preterm birth, placental abruption, breastfeeding difficulty and child neglect or abuse.
03Women rarely sought help from professionals such as social workers, medical workers or police, and fewer than 2% disclosed IPV to social workers or obstetricians in a Hong Kong study.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a scoping review, not a test of whether screening or treatment improves outcomes. The included studies used different places, time frames and questionnaires, so their prevalence figures are not directly comparable. Some mainland Chinese studies used researcher-designed questionnaires without reliability or validity information. No systematic quality appraisal of the included studies was conducted. Not all Chinese databases were searched, so some Chinese-language studies may have been missed. Most participants were recruited from hospitals, and face-to-face surveys may underreport IPV because of shame, fear or concerns about losing face. Research focused mainly on adult women and not enough on pregnant adolescents, rural poor women, disabled women or ethnic minorities.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists non-U.S. government research support. The article text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that asking pregnant women about IPV improves health outcomes. It maps what has been studied, and only one intervention study showed reduced psychological violence and improved physical and mental health outcomes, so the effect of routine screening or this intervention in other settings is not established.