Increased risk of domestic violence during and after pregnancy for people with schizophrenia, study finds

Pregnant and postpartum patients with schizophrenia are three times more likely to experience interpersonal (domestic) violence, compared with those without schizophrenia, a study carried out by the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto has found.

In a population-based cohort study of almost two million participants, 3.1 per cent of patients with schizophrenia had an emergency department visit for interpersonal violence during pregnancy or the first postpartum year, compared with 0.4 per cent of those without schizophrenia.