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World J Cardiol. Sep 26, 2021; 13(9): 438-445
Published online Sep 26, 2021. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v13.i9.438
Interpersonal violence: Serious sequelae for heart disease in women
Marianna Mazza, Giuseppe Marano, Angela Gonsalez del Castillo, Daniela Chieffo, Gabriella Albano, Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Leonarda Galiuto, Gabriele Sani, Enrico Romagnoli
Marianna Mazza, Giuseppe Marano, Gabriella Albano, Gabriele Sani, Department of Neurosciences, Section of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Marianna Mazza, Giuseppe Marano, Gabriella Albano, Gabriele Sani, Department of Psychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Angela Gonsalez del Castillo, Daniela Chieffo, Unit of Clinical Psychology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Latina 04100, Italy
Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Mediterranea Cardiocentro, Napoli 80122, Italy
Leonarda Galiuto, Enrico Romagnoli, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Mazza M, Romagnoli E, Biondi-Zoccai G, and Marano G designed the study and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; Mazza M, Romagnoli E and Marano G managed the literature searches; Gonsalez del Castillo A, Chieffo D, Albano G, Biondi-Zoccai G, Galiuto L, and Sani G supervised and added important contributions to the paper; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marianna Mazza, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosciences, Section of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A. Gemelli, 1 - 20123 Milano, Rome 00168, Italy. mariannamazza@hotmail.com
Received: December 31, 2020
Peer-review started: December 31, 2020
First decision: March 31, 2021
Revised: April 10, 2021
Accepted: July 19, 2021
Article in press: July 19, 2021
Published online: September 26, 2021
Processing time: 260 Days and 13.7 Hours
Abstract

Experiencing various forms of violence in either childhood or adulthood has been associated with cardiovascular disease, both shortly after the event and during follow-up, particularly in women. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has heightened the risk of domestic violence with serious sequelae for mental and cardiovascular health in women, possibly due to several contributing factors, ranging from lockdown, stay at home regulations, job losses, anxiety, and stress. Accordingly, it remains paramount to enforce proactive preventive strategies, at both the family and individual level, maintain a high level of attention to recognize all forms of violence or abuse, and guarantee a multidisciplinary team approach for victims of interpersonal or domestic violence in order to address physical, sexual, and emotional domains and offer a personalized care.

Keywords: Violence; Women; Depression; Cardiovascular disease; COVID-19; Personalized medicine

Core Tip: Interpersonal violence has been associated with cardiovascular disease, particularly in women. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has heightened the risk of domestic violence with serious sequelae for mental and cardiovascular health in women. There is a need of research aimed to better understanding the impact of intimate partner violence on cardiovascular risk in women, both shortly after the event and during follow-up. It is important to prevent violence and to guarantee a multidisciplinary team approach for patients who have experienced interpersonal violence in order to address physical, sexual, and emotional domains.