249 - Risk Beyond Relationships: Intimate Partner Violence and Rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Adolescents

Publication Number: 3241.249

Grace Turbyfill, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, North Little Rock, AR, United States; Alexis Clouser, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Graduate School, Little Rock, AR, United States; Bianca Rochelle, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, maumelle, AR, United States; Kelly A. Curran, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Oriaku A. Kas-Osoka, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV)-aggression or abuse within a romantic relationship-is common in adolescents and young adults, with nearly 41% of women and 26% of men experiencing it in their lifetime. While prior research demonstrates that adults who experience IPV have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, this association is poorly studied in adolescents.

Objective: We sought to explore the associations between IPV and STIs in adolescents and young adults aged 11 to 25 years using a large, multi-institutional dataset.

Design/Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis using the Epic Cosmos electronic health record database. We identified patients (aged 11-25) with documented screening for IPV (emotional, fear, physical, or sexual) between August 2020 and July 2025. Patients were grouped by exposure status:  IPV+ (reported experiencing IPV) and IPV- (reported no IPV exposure). Outcome measures included diagnoses of gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, syphilis, and HIV. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) to assess the likelihood of STI diagnosis in the IPV+ group compared to the IPV- group.

Results: A total of 1,266,479 patients had documented IPV screening, with 41,416 (3.3%) reporting at least one type of IPV exposure. We found significant odds ratios for the association between each category of IPV (emotional, fear, physical, and sexual) and each STI outcome. Across all models, IPV exposure was associated with significantly higher odds of STI diagnosis (e.g., ORs ranged from 2.01 to 4.19).

Conclusion(s): In this large cohort of adolescents and young adults, all categories of IPV were significantly associated with increased odds of STIs compared to those who had not experienced IPV. These findings underscore the importance of routine IPV screening in adolescent care and the need for integrating targeted STI prevention and treatment strategies for at-risk adolescents and young adults.

Figure 1: Demographic Data
Figure 1: Comparison of demographic distribution (race, ethnicity, and gender) between participants who screened positive for intimate partner violence (IPV) and those who screened negative.

Table 1: Likelihood of Sexually Transmitted Infection
Table 1: Association between intimate partner violence (IPV) subtypes and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Odds ratios (ORs), 99% confidence intervals (CIs), and P values are presented for each IPV subtype in relation to individual STIs.