Assessment of barriers associated with screening pregnant women for intimate partner violence from nurses perspective at Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Nairobi

Abstract

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is detrimental to the physical, emotional, sexual, social, and mental wellbeing. In pregnancy, it is directly associated with maternal complications and newborn deaths. Globally, the prevalence of IPV among women is 35% while in Kenya it is 13.5% among pregnant women. Despite the adverse outcome of IPV in pregnancy, screening during pregnancy lags behind. Study Objectives: This study sought to assess IPV screening practices and barriers associated to screening from the nurse’s perspective. Methodology: The study was conducted at Pumwani Maternity hospital utilizing a cross-sectional descriptive design. 125 participants were randomly selected from a population of 186 nurses. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The study was approved by the University of Nairobi-Kenyatta National Hospital Ethics and Research Committee. Results: In the study, 16% (n=20) of the nurses screened for IPV. The results from the study indicated that participants with high level of education were 3 times more likely to screen OR = 3.2 [95% of OR = 1.3 to 7.7], P = 0.011. Those who did not report lack of training as a barrier were 6 times more likely to screen OR = 5.8 [95% of OR =1.5 to 23.4], P = 0.0113. Participants who feared survivors partners reaction were 90% less likely to screen OR = 0.10 [95% of OR = 0.02 to 0.46], P = 0.003. Respondents who disagreed that survivors of IPV would still stay with their abuser were 3 times likely to screen OR = 3.3 [95% of OR = 1.4 to 7.4], P = 0.005.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated nurses, organization and survivors related barriers to screening for IPV in pregnancy. Therefore, stakeholders in health sector should improve policies on IPV management.