METHODS OF AND ATTITUDES TOWARD SCREENING OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY PATIENTS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to define screening behaviors of obstetrici an-gynecologists and barriers to screening their patients for domestic violence. STUDY DESIGN: A questionnaire was developed to collect info rmation on current practices and attitudes regarding screening for dom estic violence. A randomly selected sample of obstetrician-gynecologis ts was surveyed. Respondents were also asked to rank a series of 19 po tential barriers that may affect screening.RESULTS: Of 6568 physicians sampled, 962 (14.6%) returned questionnaires. Of the respondents, 77. 6% were male and 22.4% were female. Male physicians were less likely t o screen for domestic violence (25.9% vs. 18.9%). Thirty-four percent said that they had no training in abuse. Physicians indicating they ha d received training in abuse were more likely to screen for domestic v iolence. The lack of education was identified as the most common barri er physicians have to screening. The feeling that abuse was not a prob lem in their patients (46%), lack of time to deal with abuse (39.2%), and frustration that the physician cannot help the victim (34.2%) were other common barriers. CONCLUSION: The majority of obstetrician-gynec ologists do not screen their patients for current or past domestic vio lence. If universal screening is to become a reality, educational tool s and training materials are needed to overcome physician barriers.