Abstract
Objective: To assess the relationship between gender, background, and brief training and physicians’ detection of and treatment for woman abuse.
Design: Quasi-experimental and correlational designs, plus control for background factors.
Setting: Two residency training programs: general internal medicine and family practice.
Participants: Thirty-five participants were residents and four were faculty members; 17 were trained and 22 were untrained physicians; 20 were women and 19 were men.
Measures: Immediately after an encounter with each physician, a standardized patient rated speed of detection, history taking, planning, and focus on psychosocial issues.
Results: Women tended to detect the abuse earlier and take a more thorough history. Trained and untrained groups did not differ on any outcome variable. Prior professional training and having personally known a victim were positively associated with outcome, especially among men.
Conclusions: Referrals might best be made to women counselor/advocates. More extensive training of all personnel may be needed than that provided in this study.
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Supported in part by USPHS/HRSA training grant 5D28-PE15218 (Norman Jensen, MD, Director).
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Saunders, D.G., Kindy, P. Predictors of physicians’ responses to woman abuse. J Gen Intern Med 8, 606–609 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599714
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599714