Intimate Partner Violence and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in Women

OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate the association between intimate partner violence, a prevalent psychosocial stressor, and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In 2001, 68,376 Nurses’ Health Study II participants answered questions on physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence in adulthood (age ≥18 years) and reported the years in which any abuse occurred. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the associations between intimate partner violence exposures and incidence of type 2 diabetes from 2001 to 2007. We also estimated effects of duration and time since intimate partner violence on type 2 diabetes incidence. RESULTS: Of 68,376 respondents, 64,732 met inclusion criteria at the 2001 baseline; of these, 23% reported lifetime physical intimate partner violence, 11% reported lifetime sexual intimate partner violence, and 8% reported moderate and <2% reported severe psychological intimate partner violence. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for type 2 diabetes, adjusted for potential confounders, were 1.18 (1.00–1.39) and 1.08 (0.86–1.35) for more than one lifetime episode of physical and sexual intimate partner violence, respectively, and 1.78 (1.21–2.61) for severe psychological abuse. Addition of updated BMI and other diabetes risk factors reduced the physical intimate partner violence HR to 1.12 (0.94–1.33) and the psychological intimate partner violence HR to 1.61 (1.09–2.38). CONCLUSIONS: Physical intimate partner violence is modestly associated with incidence of type 2 diabetes in this population. Severe psychological violence may substantially increase type 2 diabetes risk.