Intimate Partner Violence and Antiretroviral Adherence Among Women Receiving Care in an Urban Southeastern Texas HIV Clinic

This nonexperimental, descriptive study examined relationships between recent intimate partner violence (IPV) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among women. Data from 272 HIV-infected women receiving care at a large HIV clinic were obtained through interviews and medical record abstraction. The Severity of Violence Against Women Scale was used to determine IPV experience in the previous 12 months; the prevalence of recent IPV in our sample was 52%. Mean Domestic Violence Specific Morisky Medication Adherence Scale scores among women experiencing recent IPV were significantly lower (M = 5.49, SD = 2.06) than in women without IPV experiences (M = 6.57, SD = 1.57, t[262.1] = 4.91, p < .001). A greater proportion of detectable viral loads (Fisher's exact p < .001) was found in women experiencing recent IPV compared to women who did not experience IPV. The data indicate that clinicians should screen HIV-infected women frequently for IPV when assessing ART adherence.