The relationship between intimate partner violence and children's asthma in 10 US states/territories

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been shown to negatively impact the health of both the adults who experience IPV and the children who are exposed to IPV. Although IPV experienced by women has been linked to children's asthma, this study is the first to examine this question among both women and men, and the first study in the United States to examine this question as part of a population-based data set. In 2005, ten US states/territories administered an IPV module and a children's asthma module within the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Lifetime IPV was assessed by four questions that asked about threatened, attempted, or completed physical violence, as well as unwanted sex, by a current or former intimate partner. The children's asthma module asked respondents to report whether a randomly selected child in their household had ever been diagnosed with asthma and whether the same child currently had asthma. Women who experienced lifetime IPV, in contrast to women who never experienced IPV, were significantly more likely to report that their children had ever had asthma and currently have asthma. Among men, significant differences were not found when comparing men who reported lifetime IPV to those that did not report lifetime IPV. The results highlight the importance of primary prevention of IPV, as reducing the occurrence of IPV could improve not only the long-term health of those who experience IPV but also the health of their children.