• Leslie Gruskin, Stephen J Gange, David Celentano, Paula Schuman, Janet S Moore, Sally Zierler, and David Vlahov.
• Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
• J Urban Health. 2002 Dec 1; 79 (4): 512524512-24.

AbstractThe effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on the incidence of violence against women was addressed in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected and uninfected women. Participants were enrolled between 1993 and 1995 in four US cities and followed up semiannually through 1998. Among 1,087 women with a total accrual of 2,988 person-years (PY) of follow-up, there were 185 reports of abuse (incidence rate = 6.19 per 100 PY). The rate of abuse among HIV-infected women with a CD4+ count less than 350 cells/ micro L was lower than that among HIV-infected women with more CD4+ cells/ micro L or among uninfected women (4.87, 6.92, and 6.44 per 100 PY, respectively). In multivariate analysis, being separated or divorced, having a history of abuse in adulthood, using marijuana, using crack, and having multiple sex partners were each significantly associated with an elevated abuse rate; being older was inversely associated with abuse. Among HIV-infected women, those with fewer CD4+ cells/ micro L continued to show a decreased abuse rate (hazard ratio = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.36, 0.82) after adjustment for these factors. It is important to complement existing and future HIV prevention and intervention strategies with efforts to reduce violence against women.

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