摘要：Objectives. This study estimated the prevalence of violence during pregnancy in relation to HIV infection. Methods. Violence, current partnerships, and HIV risk behaviors were assessed among 336 HIV-seropositive and 298 HIV-seronegative at-risk pregnant women. Results. Overall, 8.9% of women experienced recent violence; 21.5% currently had abusive partners. Violence was experienced by women in all partnership categories (range = 3.8% with nonabusive partners to 53.6% with physically abusive partners). Neither experiencing violence nor having an abusive partner differed by serostatus. Receiving an HIV diagnosis prenatally did not increase risk. Disclosure-related violence occurred, but was rare. Conclusions. Many HIV-infected pregnant women experience violence, but it is not typically attributable to their serostatus. Prenatal services should incorporate screening and counseling for all women at risk for violence. (Am J Public Health. 2002;92:367–370) Conservative estimates suggest that 4% to 8% of women in the United States experience violence during pregnancy. 1, 2 Several factors suggest that risk for violence may be even higher for pregnant women with HIV infection. Women with HIV are at increased risk for violence relative to the general population, 3, 4 perhaps because demographic and behavioral factors associated with HIV (e.g., poverty, drug use, bartering sex) also increase a woman's exposure to violence. 5– 9 In addition, some HIV-infected women may be at risk for violence when their positive serostatus is disclosed. 10– 15 Because a large proportion of HIV infections in women are diagnosed through routine prenatal screening, 16– 19 many disclosures may occur during pregnancy. Moreover, modifications of obstetric and postpartum care to prevent perinatal transmission (e.g., additional medications, formula feeding) 20, 21 may make it more difficult for women who are pregnant or have recently given birth to keep their serostatus private. Data collected as part of the Perinatal Guidelines Evaluation Project—HIV and Pregnancy Study were used to examine the prevalence of violence during pregnancy among women with HIV and to ascertain if, and in what way, violence might be related to HIV serostatus. Specifically, seronegative women were matched to seropositive women on a number of demographic and HIV risk characteristics also associated with risk for violence. Owing to concerns that widespread prenatal screening for HIV might inadvertently increase women's risk for negative social consequences such as violence, the impact of receiving an HIV diagnosis during pregnancy was assessed. Finally, the association between recent violence and current partnership category was assessed and, for HIV-infected women, violence associated specifically with partner serostatus disclosure was examined.
