Domestic Violence Underreported by Doctors
Reported November 25, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — New research shows many doctors are not keeping track when patients report domestic violence.
Researchers from Harvard in Boston along with several other institutions across the country analyzed the content of doctors’ reports on patients who reported domestic violence in a questionnaire. Nearly 5 percent — or 115 out of 2,341 — of patients who filled out the questionnaire reported domestic violence. Patients filled out the questionnaires before each consultation and gave the questionnaire to their doctor at the start of the consultation. Researchers analyzed doctor’s reports for 90 of the patients.
Results of the analysis show nearly one-third of the doctors’ reports did not document the patient’s own report of violence. Doctors are asked to offer patients information about where to get help, and to assist them in developing a list of steps to take to get out of their situation. Researchers found 72 percent of charts contained some documentation of domestic violence, but only 10 percent contained both a referral and safety plan. That means 90 percent of doctors surveyed did not document domestic violence adequately.
When the doctors were surveyed, nearly 82 percent strongly agreed that it is their role to inquire about domestic violence, but only 68 percent said they were confident in their ability to manage it. In contrast, 93 percent had confidence in managing depression. Sixty-seven percent of doctors identified time constraints as a barrier to care.
Authors of the study write, “Mandatory waiting room screening for [intimate partner violence] does not result in high levels of referral or safety planning by [primary care providers]. Despite the implementation of a screening process, clinicians lack confidence and time to address [intimate partner violence] in their patient populations suggesting that alternative methods of training and supporting [primary care providers] need to be developed.”
SOURCE: BMC Family Practice, published online Nov. 19, 2005