April 16, 2015
Thanks to the availability of potent combination anti-HIV therapy (commonly called ART or HAART), many people with HIV are living longer in Canada and other high-income countries. As a result, researchers in the HIV field are able to explore a range of different issues in the lives of this population. One such issue is intimate partner violence (IPV), which a team of researchers in Calgary, Alberta, has defined as follows (based on a report by the World Health Organization):
"Violence committed by a current or former intimate partner involving the threat, attempt, or completion of physical, sexual or psychological violence." Included in this are issues such as "neglect, isolation, intimidation and financial abuse."
IPV is also known as interpersonal violence, battering or domestic abuse.
IPV can have a broad range of negative effects on a person's health and quality of life.
The Calgary researchers state: "Not only are [people who experience] IPV more vulnerable to acquiring HIV infection, but also the presence of IPV negatively impacts their care by delaying access to [HIV] diagnosis and subsequent engagement in care, missed clinical appointments, non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy, increased hospitalizations, and [increasing the risk for developing AIDS]."
This statement is based on findings from studies conducted in Alberta and elsewhere.
The Calgary team notes that other researchers have found that "the presence of HIV infection may increase the risk of subsequent IPV within a relationship." Therefore, they say that identifying HIV-positive people who have experienced or are experiencing IPV "offers the potential for mitigating its negative effects on both their general and HIV health."
Several years ago the Southern Alberta Clinic (SAC) began implementing a program to screen HIV-positive patients for IPV. The Calgary team recently conducted a study to assess the program. They found that IPV was common -- overall, 35% of 1,721 participants disclosed this problem. However, IPV was even more common among some subgroups. Researchers conducted detailed interviews with a subset of 158 participants. This latter group reported appreciation for the screening program and gave feedback that the researchers used to make recommendations for other clinics implementing an IPV screening program.
Of the 1,721 participants screened for IPV, a total of 605 (35%) reported at least one of the following issues:
Participants who were diagnosed with HIV when they were younger than 30 years old were more likely to disclose IPV than participants who were diagnosed with HIV in their later years.
Other findings by the Calgary team included the following:
In June and July 2014, the research team interviewed 158 people -- a subset of the larger study of 1,721 participants -- to hear their views about IPV screening in the clinic. The main findings are as follows:
The latest results from the Calgary researchers confirm their earlier findings and conclusions -- that "IPV is common, ongoing and a pervasive issue across all of our different communities living with HIV in southern Alberta."
Furthermore, the researchers stated that "screening and providing proper follow-up and referral for IPV can and should be incorporated effectively in the HIV clinic setting."
Based on their experience of screening for IPV for at least five years in southern Alberta, the researchers made the following recommendations for other clinics that provide care for HIV-positive people:
Although the present study was done in southern Alberta, IPV knows no boundaries, so HIV clinics in other regions can hopefully learn from the experience of the Calgary research team.
No comments have been made.
The content on this page is free of advertiser influence and was produced by our editorial team. See our content and advertising policies.