Domestic violence and its associated factors in Iran: according to World Health Organization model

Domestic violence is a global problem that led to many maternal and neonatal complications. Among the factors associated with domestic violence, social determinants of health are the most controversial issues in health policy domain. According to the WHO conceptual framework of Commission on Social Determinants affecting on health this study has been designed to investigate the articles that have been published on its prevalence and related factors in Iran. This descriptive study reviews the Iranian articles published in four data bases (PubMed, SID, Iran Medex, Magiran) between 2000-2013, by searching violence, abuse, pregnancy in title, abstract and keywords of the articles. Overall, 38 articles, 5 English and 33 Persian, were selected according to inclusion criteria and assess. 35 articles were descriptive (longitudinal and cross-sectional) and 3 were analytic (cohort and case-control). Prevalence of domestic violence in pregnancy was reported between 19.3% to 94.5%. Among domestic violence related factors, the most prevalent factors in structural determinant were maternal education and in intermediary determinant were material circumstance: housing, psychosocial circumstance: unwanted pregnancy, behavioral factors: partner substance abuse and health system: lack of prenatal care. ‍ The prevalence of domestic violence during pregnancy in Iran is a matter of concern and can be reduced by identifying high risk groups. Since many social determinants may affect domestic violence, performing etiological investigations is recommended.