A knowledge, attitudes, and practice survey among obstetrician-gynaecologists on intimate partner violence in Flanders, Belgium

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has consistently been found to afflict one in twenty pregnant women and is therefore considered a leading cause of physical injury, mental illness and adverse pregnancy outcome. A general antenatal screening policy has been advocated, though compliance with such guidelines tends to be low. We therefore attempted to identify potential barriers to IPV screening in a context where no guidelines have been instigated yet. METHODS: Questionnaire-based Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice survey among obstetrician-gynaecologists in Flanders, Belgium (n = 478). RESULTS: The response rate was 52.1% (249/478). Gynaecologists prove rather unfamiliar with IPV and therefore largely underestimate the extent of the problem. Merely 6.8% (17/249) of the respondents ever received or pursued any kind of education on IPV. Accordingly they do feel insufficiently skilled to deal with IPV, yet sufficiently capable of recognizing IPV among their patients. Survey participants largely refute the incentive of universal screening in favour of opportunistic screening and do not consider pregnancy as a window of opportunity for routine screening. They do consider screening for IPV as an issue of medical liability and therefore do not suffer from a lack of motivation to screen. In addition, obstetrician-gynaecologists do believe that screening for IPV may be an effective means to counteract abusive behaviours. Yet, their outcome expectancy is weighed down by their perceived lack of self-efficacy in dealing with IPV, by lack of familiarity with referral procedures and by their perceived lack of available referral services. Major external or patient-related barriers to IPV screening included a perceived lack of time and fear of offending or insulting patients. Overall, merely 8.4 % (21/245) of gynaecologists in this survey performed some kind of IPV questioning on a regular basis. Finally, physician education was found to be the strongest predictor of a positive attitude towards screening and of current screening practices. CONCLUSION: Endorsement of physician training on IPV is an important first step towards successful implementation of screening guidelines for IPV. Additional introduction of enabling and reinforcement strategies such as screening tools, patient leaflets, formal referral pathways, and physician feedback may further enhance compliance with screening recommendations and guidelines

[Social medical themes and the health intervention: violence against women in the professional's discourse].

This study deals with violence against women as a health care matter. It was part of a research in public services of São Paulo (Brazil), including the prevalence of violence among users from 15 to 49 years old; the study of their medical records; the description of the services; and interview with 50 professionals, focusing the routine and the ideals of health work, the perception on the existence of violence cases, the offer of assistance or its obstacles and the representations on violence. This article analyses the content of the professional narratives and uses the other data to characterise the assistance context. Confirming the literature, violence was almost always regarded as a relevant problem but outside the professional's intervention boundaries. Isolated actions and in a personal basis were reported. Fear and professional impotence were mentioned, but none positive aspect for potential interventions. The professionals showed lack of knowledge of specialized reference services. In conclusion, the difficulties in the acceptance of violence cases should be worked in three dimensions: the narrow definition of professionals' competence that excludes violence as an object; the absence of technological definitions for professional actions; and effective support in their services