Assessment of Association between Domestic Violence and Antenatal Depression in Rural Indian Population

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic Violence (DV) on women during perinatal period is a major public health issue. DV is prevalent throughout the world and has huge adverse effects in postnatal period. Aim: To assess prevalence and to determine the association between DV and depressive symptoms among antenatal women. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care centre at Jawaharlal Nehru medical college, Dutta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India, from September 2018 to September 2019. A 200 antenatal women between age range of 18-50 years attending the Outpatient Department were included in the study. They were administered the Edinberg Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) to evaluate for DV and its association with Antenatal Depression (AND). For the purpose of bivariate logistic regression, a variable for depression was computed based on EPDS scores, i.e., symptoms of depression during pregnancy, whereby an optimal cut-off of ≥13 was chosen as representing the presence of symptoms of depression. Statistical analysis was done by using descriptive and inferential statistics using chi-square test. The p-value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The most common age range of participants were between 21-30 years. A 28 (14%) of 200 women were found to have a history of DV. Majority of them experienced psychological abuse (39.3%), followed by verbal (28.6%), physical (7.4%) and combined types of abuses (25%). The perpetrators were mostly husbands and in- laws. Reasons for abuse included husband’s alcohol abuse, in- law’s interferences and dowry demand. Based on EDPS, 41.5% had depression and 9.5% had probable depression. DV was found to be significantly associated with AND. Income of the family and occupation of the patient were found to be other significant associated factors. Conclusion: Domestic Violence (DV) has a significant correlation with AND. Proper prenatal screening for DV, early diagnosis and management of AND including family interventions are necessary to improve the health and wellbeing of pregnant women.