Findings: For women of all ages, IPV accounted for 2.9% of the total disease and injury burden. For women aged 18 to 44, IPV was associated with 7.9% of the overall disease burden and was a larger risk to health than risk factors included in burden of disease studies such as raised blood pressure, smoking and increased body weight. Poor mental health contributed 73% and substance abuse contributed 22% to the disease burden attributed to IPV.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that IPV is a significant risk to women’s health. Mental health policy makers and health workers need to be aware of IPV as an important risk factor.