Abstract
BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes any physical, sexual, or emotional harm experienced in any intimate relationship that results in negative outcomes. Zambia is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of IPV amongst women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims to investigate and describe the prevalence, associated risk factors, and geo-spatial distribution of IPV amongst women aged 15-49 years from the 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS). METHODS: This study is a secondary data analysis of the 2018 ZDHS, which used the women's individual dataset to extract a representative sample of 9 503 women from the domestic violence module. Analyses were adjusted using survey weights to account for unequal sampling probabilities. The bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were applied to determine the factors associated with IPV. Stata MP version 14 was used to perform all analyses and QGIS software was used to map the geospatial distribution of IPV across provinces. RESULTS: The overall IPV prevalence amongst women aged 15-49 years in this study was 36.5% (95%CI: 34.9 to 38.2), with Muchinga province having the highest prevalence at 55.2% (95% CI 50.4 to 59.8) and North western with the lowest prevalence at 22.6% (95% CI 19.9 to 25.6). In the adjusted analyses, women who justified wife beating were at a higher odds of experiencing IPV compared to those who did not (aOR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.37 to 2.25; p < 0.001). Women with husbands or partners who consume alcohol were at higher odds of experiencing IPV (aOR = 3.81; 95% CI: 3.21 to 4.53; p < 0.001). The study also found that women who reported witnessing parental violence from their father to mother had increased odds of experiencing IPV (aOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.45 to 2.12; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that women who witnessed parental violence from father to mother, justified wife beating, or had partners who consumed alcohol, had increased odds of experiencing IPV in Zambia. There is need to tailor interventions that address the cessation of alcohol consumption, and the promotion of awareness and education on IPV and its associated harms, especially in hot spot provinces.