Changing dentists' knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding domestic violence through an interactive multimedia tutorial

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.