The effect of intimate partner violence against women on under-five children mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION Intimate partner violence against women is one of the most common and widely occurring forms of violence against women that had consequences on the health of women and children. However, studies of the impact on children mortality reported controversial results. OBJECTIVES To determine the overall magnitude, association directions of intimate partner violence against women and mortality among under five children. METHODS Online databases were systematically searched for subject heading intimate partner violence against women and under five children mortality. On the final search 11 studies from developing countries were inputted into Metaesy add-in for MS Excel version 1.0.4 software for meta-analysis. Random effect model using DerSimonian and Laird's (DL) estimator was used to calculate the pooled estimates of the studies. RESULTS Mother who reported past experiences of intimate partner violence were more likely to have under-five children mortality. Mean effect size, 95% CI; 0.23 (0.16 to 0.32) was observed which is significantly different from Zero. The value of pooled Odds Ratio corresponds to 95% CI is: 1.34 (1.12 to 1.46). CONCLUSIONS Interventions aimed at improving child health and survival should focus to protect women from all forms of violence. Comprehensive and longitudinal studies are encouraged to address the issues of intimate partner violence against women and under five children mortality in more depth.