Health professional’s personal exposure to DV and their clinical practice
| All participants (n=471)* | Lifetime abuse by partner/family member | Unadjusted | Adjusted† | P values | ||
| No abuse (n=257) | Abuse (n=212) | |||||
| n (%) | OR (95% CI) | |||||
| Training (1+ days) | 94 (20.1) | 36 (14.1) | 58 (27.4) | 2.3 (1.4 to 3.6) | 1.9 (1.2 to 3.2) | 0.007 |
| Preparedness for practice | Mean (SD) | Coef (95% CI) | ||||
| Attitudes about survivors | 5.1 (1.0) | 4.9 (1.0) | 5.3 (0.9) | 0.3 (0.2 to 0.5) | 0.2 (0.1 to 0.4) | 0.009 |
| Attitudes about the role of health services | 4.4 (1.1) | 4.3 (1.0) | 4.4 (1.2) | 0.1 (−0.1 to 0.3) | −0.1 (−0.3 to 0.1) | 0.550 |
| n (%) | OR (95% CI) | |||||
| Recent clinical practice‡ | (n=422) | (n=226) | (n=194) | |||
| Comfort discussing DV | 194 (46.0) | 94 (41.6) | 99 (51.0) | 1.5 (1.0 to 2.2) | 1.1 (0.7 to 1.7) | 0.578 |
| Comfort discussing sexual assault | 165 (39.0) | 77 (34.1) | 87 (44.8) | 1.6 (1.1 to 2.3) | 1.2 (0.8 to 1.8) | 0.455 |
| Did not avoid issue of DV | 254 (61.9) | 93 (42.5) | 62 (32.8) | 1.5 (1.0 to 2.3) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.0) | 0.232 |
| Did not find upsetting to talk about | 229 (55.8) | 127 (56.0) | 102 (54.0) | 0.8 (0.6 to 1.2) | 0.8 (0.5 to 1.1) | .186 |
| Very aware of the issue | 220 (54.3) | 107 (50.0) | 111 (59.0) | 1.4 (1.0 to 2.1) | 1.2 (0.8 to 1.8) | 0.399 |
| Tried to go the extra mile with patients | 181 (44.5) | 84 (38.7) | 95 (50.3) | 1.6 (1.1 to 2.4) | 1.3 (0.9 to 2.0) | 0.205 |
| DV inquiry | ||||||
| Inquiry of 1+ patient/s | 260 (61.6) | 124 (54.9) | 134 (69.1) | 1.8 (1.2 to 2.7) | 1.5 (1.0 to 2.3) | 0.074 |
| Identified 1+ new cases | 193 (45.7) | 91 (40.1) | 101 (52.3) | 1.6 (1.1 to 2.4) | 1.3 (0.8 to 2.0) | 0.263 |
| Intervention/s with survivor patients§ | (n=193) | (n=91) | (n=101) | |||
| Risk assessment | 102 (53.7) | 41 (46.1) | 60 (60.0) | 1.8 (1.0 to 3.1) | 1.2 (0.6 to 2.4) | 0.501 |
| Safety planning | 80 (41.7) | 28 (31.1) | 52 (51.5) | 2.3 (1.3 to 4.2) | 1.6 (0.8 to 3.2) | 0.208 |
| Case file documentation | 139 (72.4) | 63 (70.0) | 75 (74.3) | 1.2 (0.6 to 2.3) | 1.1 (0.5 to 2.2) | 0.786 |
| Utilised DV clinical practice guideline | 76 (40.0) | 37 (41.1) | 38 (38.4) | 0.9 (0.5 to 1.6) | 0.7 (0.4 to 1.4) | 0.363 |
| Accessed DV information | 60 (31.4) | 22 (24.4) | 37 (37.0) | 1.8 (1.0 to 3.4) | 2.0 (1.0 to 4.0) | 0.040 |
| Discussed DV at a team meeting | 125 (66.1) | 56 (62.2) | 68 (69.4) | 1.4 (0.7 to 2.5) | 1.2 (0.6 to 2.3) | .542 |
| Discussed a DV case with manager | 146 (76.4) | 66 (74.2) | 79 (78.2) | 1.2 (0.6 to 2.4) | 1.1 (0.5 to 2.3) | 0.751 |
| DV referrals | ||||||
| Internal hospital service | 166 (86.0) | 78 (85.7) | 87 (86.1) | 1.0 (0.5 to 2.3) | 1.0 (0.4 to 2.5) | 0.960 |
| Community DV service | 78 (40.6) | 30 (33.3) | 48 (47.5) | 1.8 (1.0 to 3.3) | 1.3 (0.7 to 2.7) | 0.387 |
*Denominators vary due to missing values, maximum missing values n=19 (4.0%).
†Adjusted for age (40+ years), profession (social work), years of clinical experience (10+ years), training (1+ days).
‡During the last 6 months. 48 participants were excluded from the remaining analyses because they had not been in clinical practice.
§277 participants were excluded from analyses (229 participants who had not identified a new DV case and 48 participants not in clinical practice).
DV, domestic violence.