The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Healthcare Utilization: Evidence From Vietnam

We investigated the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and healthcare utilization among women in Vietnam, a topic which is largely unexplored in low-income countries. To address the potential endogeneity of IPV, we employed the mother-in-law’s IPV history as an instrumental variable (IV) and analyzed data from the National Survey on Domestic Violence against Women in Vietnam. We found that a one standard deviation increase in the IPV index was associated with a significant increase in the use of medication (36.1%) and outpatient visits (37.4%). Further analysis showed that these effects varied based on women’s and their husbands’ education, place of residence, and ethnicity. Mechanism analysis showed that IPV negatively impacted women’ health, potentially leading to increased healthcare utilization. These findings highlight the detrimental consequences of IPV on women’s health and healthcare utilization in the Vietnamese context, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions that address the diverse experiences of women and the social factors influencing healthcare access in the face of IPV.