Citation

Hsieh NK, Herzig K, Gansky SA, Danley D, Gerbert B. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 2006; 137(5): 596-603.

Affiliation

Department of Orofacial Sciences, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California San Francisco, CA 94117, USA.

Comment In:

J Am Dent Assoc 2006;137(8):1068, 1070

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Dental Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16739538

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dentists have a unique opportunity to address the problem of domestic violence (DV). The authors tested the effectiveness of a tutorial designed to educate dentists in identifying and responding to DV. METHODS: The authors developed a brief interactive multimedia tutorial for dentists and recruited practicing dentists (N = 174) for a randomized, controlled trial. A 24-question instrument assessed participants' knowledge, attitudes and practice behaviors regarding DV at two time points. The control group took the tutorial before completing a posttest. The authors also administered a 20-question empathy scale. RESULTS: The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in scores on most items, including knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, relative to control subjects (P < .01). Empathy scores did not show significant correlation with change scores on the DV assessment instrument. CONCLUSIONS: The tutorial is effective in helping dentists learn how to identify and help patients who are experiencing abuse. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Broad dissemination of the tutorial about DV would introduce dentists to simple strategies for responding to patients who experience DV.

Language: en