DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS AND PREVALENCE IN A FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL-SCHOOL CLASS

Objective: To determine knowledge about domestic violence (DV), the ef fectiveness of formal instruction about DV, and the prevalence of DV i n a first-year medical school class. Methods: A general-knowledge surv ey of DV was given before and approximately 1 month after 3 hours of i nstruction provided by emergency medicine and internal medicine facult y. A previously validated scale, the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA), was offered to determine baseline levels of DV within the group. Differenc es in first-year medical student knowledge of facts about DV and diffe rences in responses by men vs women were determined before and after t he instruction.Results: In the pre-instruction series, 144 of 148 (97% ) participated, After the instruction, 141 of the same 148 students pa rticipated (95%). The prevalence of DV against women was correctly ide ntified by 45% of the students as ''15-30%'' prior to instruction, and 65% after instruction. The prevalence of DV against males was correct ly identified as ''0-15%'' by 48% of the students prior to instruction , and 70% after instruction. Before instruction, 29% of the students k new that ''DV rates are equal in different socioeconomic groups,'' vs 72% after instruction. Similarly, prior to instruction 58% of the stud ents knew that the victim is not responsible for the abuse, and 84% kn ew this after instruction. Before instruction 14 (10%) of the students believed they were victims of DV in the past, representing 7% of the men and 13% of the women. Before instruction neither group believed th ey were present victims of DV. However, according to ISA scoring, 6% o f the women were positive for violence in the past, and approximately 5% were positive for present violence. No men were positive for ISA-de termined past or present violence. Conclusion: Improvement in awarenes s was demonstrated after 3 hours of instruction in a first-year medica l school class. There was DV among female medical students in this fir st-year class and self-reporting was not reliable. These results suppo rt instruction on DV for medical students.