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Objective: Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) often do not perceive themselves as abused. This study sought to estimate the health effects of unperceived IPV (uIPV), taking violence-free women as the reference, and to compare the effects of uIPV with those of perceived IPV (pIPV). Method: We performed a cross-sectional population study through telephone interviews of 2835 women aged 18 to 70 years living in the region of Madrid and having an ongoing intimate partner relationship or contact with a former partner in the preceding year. Based on 26 questions from the Conflict Tactics Scale-1 and the Enquête Nacional sur les Violences envers les Femmes en France and the question "Do you feel abused by your partner?" a variable was constructed in three categories, namely, the absence of IPV, uIPV and pIPV. Using logistic regression, we analyzed the association between health problems, medication use, health-service utilization and IPV (perceived and unperceived) vis-à-vis the absence of IPV. Results: There were 247 cases of uIPV and 96 of pIPV (prevalences of 8.8% and 3.4%, respectively). The multivariate analysis showed that a substantial number of the outcomes explored were associated with uIPV, pIPV, or both. The highest odds ratios (ORs) were obtained for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 > 10) (uIPV: OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.4-3.8; and pIPV: 4.1, 95%CI 2.5-6.8). In most problems, the ORs did not significantly differ between the two types of IPV. Conclusions: uIPV is 2.6 times more frequent than pIPV and is associated with at least as many health problems as pIPV (AU)

Objetivo: Las mujeres que sufren violencia de pareja (VPM) a menudo no se perciben a sí mismas como maltratadas. Se pretende estimar los efectos en salud de la violencia no percibida (VPMnp), tomando a las mujeres libres de violencia como referencia, y comparar con los efectos de la violencia percibida (VPMp). Método: Estudio transversal poblacional mediante encuesta telefónica a 2835 mujeres de 18 a 70 años de edad residentes en la Comunidad de Madrid, con relación de pareja o contacto con la ex pareja en el último año. Basándonos en 26 preguntas de la Conflict Tactic Scale-1 y de la Enquête Nacional sur les Violences envers les Femmes en France, y en la pregunta "¿se siente usted maltratada?", se construyó una variable en tres categorías: ausencia de VPM, VPMnp y VPMp. Se estudió la asociación de problemas de salud, consumo de medicamentos y frecuentación de servicios con la VPM (bien percibida o no) respecto a la ausencia de VPM, mediante regresión logística. Resultados: Se encontraron 247 casos de VPMnp y 96 de VPMp (prevalencia del 8,8% y el 3,4%, respectivamente). En el análisis multivariado, un gran número de problemas resultaron asociados con la VPMnp, con la VPMp o con ambas. Las odds ratio (OR) más altas se obtuvieron para la depresión (PHQ9 ≥ 10) (VPMnp: OR 3,4, intervalo de confianza del 95% [IC95%] 2,4-3,8; VPMp: OR 4,1, IC95% 2,5-6,8). En la mayoría de los problemas, las OR no mostraron diferencias significativas entre los dos tipos de VPM. Conclusiones: La VPMnp es 2,6 veces más frecuente que la VPMp y se asocia al menos a tantos problemas de salud como la VPMp (AU)

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RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) often do not perceive themselves as abused. This study sought to estimate the health effects of unperceived IPV (uIPV), taking violence-free women as the reference, and to compare the effects of uIPV with those of perceived IPV (pIPV). METHOD: We performed a cross-sectional population study through telephone interviews of 2835 women aged 18 to 70 years living in the region of Madrid and having an ongoing intimate partner relationship or contact with a former partner in the preceding year. Based on 26 questions from the Conflict Tactics Scale-1 and the Enquête Nacional sur les Violences envers les Femmes en France and the question "Do you feel abused by your partner?" a variable was constructed in three categories, namely, the absence of IPV, uIPV and pIPV. Using logistic regression, we analyzed the association between health problems, medication use, health-service utilization and IPV (perceived and unperceived) vis-à-vis the absence of IPV. RESULTS: There were 247 cases of uIPV and 96 of pIPV (prevalences of 8.8% and 3.4%, respectively). The multivariate analysis showed that a substantial number of the outcomes explored were associated with uIPV, pIPV, or both. The highest odds ratios (ORs) were obtained for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9≥10) (uIPV: OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.4-3.8; and pIPV: 4.1, 95%CI 2.5-6.8). In most problems, the ORs did not significantly differ between the two types of IPV. CONCLUSIONS: uIPV is 2.6 times more frequent than pIPV and is associated with at least as many health problems as pIPV.

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BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem with significant consequences on women's health. This study estimates the prevalence of intimate partner violence by type among Madrid's female population and assesses the association with socio-economic variables. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2004, 2136 women aged 18-70 years, living in the Madrid region with a partner or who had been in contact with an ex-partner in the previous year, were interviewed by telephone. The questionnaire used to measure past-year intimate partner violence, consisted of a Spanish translation of the psychological and sexual violence module of the French National Survey on Violence against Women, and the physical violence module of the Conflict Tactics Scale-1. To assess the association with socio-economic factors, logistic regression models were fitted. RESULTS: About 10.1% [confidence interval (CI) 8.9-11.5] of the women had suffered some type of IPV in the previous year. 8.6% (CI 7.4-9.8) experienced psychological violence, 2.4% (CI 1.8-3.1) physical violence and 1.1% (CI 0.68-1.6) sexual violence; the prevalence of psychological-only violence (non-physical/non-sexual) was 6.9% (CI 5.8-8.0). Factors associated with psychological-only violence were divorced or separated status and Group III (clerical workers; supervisors of manual workers) or V (unskilled manual workers) occupation. Unemployment and divorced or separated status were associated with physical violence. CONCLUSIONS: Spanish women in our study, experienced past year partner violence at a similar level as in other industrialized countries. Unemployment and low occupational status are associated with physical and psychological-only violence, respectively.

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