Changes in the levels of knowledge and attitudes of dental hospital staff about domestic violence following attendance at an awareness raising seminar.

OBJECTIVES: To assess changes in dental team knowledge and awareness about domestic violence following attendance at a brief training intervention.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five dental hospital staff at the University of Manchester Dental Hospital attended a two-hour session delivered by Manchester's City Wide NHS Domestic Violence Project manager. Participants completed identical questionnaires immediately before and after the session. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine changes in responses to individual questions before and after training. Independent sample t-tests were also conducted to compare mean responses by sex.
RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements were seen in 50% of attitude questions and 100% of knowledge questions. After training, there was improved recognition that interpersonal violence was a health issue and that the dental profession should be more involved in identification of abuse. There was also improved comfort asking about abuse and respondents were less afraid of offending the patient and less likely to blame the victims for being abused. Statistically significant sex differences at baseline were also seen for several items: females obtaining more correct answers at baseline than males.
CONCLUSIONS: Brief domestic violence training interventions can be effective in improving knowledge and attitudes amongst a dental team but could lead to false confidence in staff and should be followed by in-depth practical training and the development of appropriate processes for dealing with abuse victims.