Postpartum hospital use among survivors of intimate partner violence

• Published in: American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM 2023-04, Vol.5 (4), p.100848-100848, Article 100848
• Main Authors: Rao, Manasa G., Stone, Joanne, Glazer, Kimberly B., Howell, Elizabeth A., Janevic, Teresa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Intimate Partner Violence - psychology; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy; Retrospective Studies; Suicide; Survivors
• ISSN: 2589-9333; 2589-9333
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2022.100848

More than 1 in 3 individuals who identify as female, experience either intimate partner violence (IPV) or sexual assault during their lifetime, and sexual violence committed by an intimate partner is at its highest during their reproductive years.1 As many as 20% of pregnant individuals may experience IPV, and IPV during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk for adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, making pregnant individuals an especially vulnerable population.1 In fact, >50% of pregnancy-associated suicides and >45% of pregnancy-associated homicides are associated with IPV and these often occur during the postpartum period.2 Although >50% of maternal deaths occur postpartum,3 little research has examined whether IPV is associated with markers of postpartum maternal morbidity, including hospital readmission and emergency department (ED) visits.4 In addition, few studies have examined the feasibility of ascertaining IPV at the delivery hospitalization using billing codes. Although the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes include factors related to social determinants of health, ICD-10 codes are largely underutilized for the purpose of understanding risk of disease and adverse outcomes.5 The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association of IPV screening at delivery with the incidence of postpartum hospital use. Another objective was to examine the possibility of using ICD-10 codes at the delivery hospitalization to identify IPV in pregnant individuals. This was a retrospective cohort of birth data linked with inpatient and outpatient hospital claims data, including deliveries of individuals residing in the New York City metropolitan area between 2016 and 2018. Thirty-day hospital use was ascertained by either a readmission or an ED visit within 30 days of discharge. We identified the incidence of IPV from the delivery hospital discharge records using 36 IPV-related ICD-10 codes that we identified in the literature, including those defined for adult psychological and sexual abuse. We estimated the associations between IPV identified during the delivery hospitalization and postpartum hospital use using a multivariable logistic regression and separately adjusting for demographic and structural determinants of health, psychosocial factors, comorbidities, and obstetrical complications. All analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). This study was approved by o