Chain pharmacists' attitudes on and awareness of domestic abuse.

Little has been written to specifically educate pharmacists on the subject of spousal or partner abuse. This project was undertaken to determine whether pharmacists have received training in domestic abuse and to ascertain their attitudes toward participating in abuse intervention. Two hundred twenty-four pharmacists from two chain pharmacies in Arizona received a questionnaire, and 121 (54%) responded. Most (97.5%) had received no training on domestic abuse intervention techniques and did not feel adequately prepared to intervene in a potential situation. Respondents were divided on the extent to which pharmacists should be involved in intervention. Pharmacists who graduated before 1980 were less likely to agree that intervention was an important activity for pharmacists (p < 0.05). More women than men would feel comfortable helping abused patients if they knew more about intervention. More women than men agreed that pharmacists should keep information about domestic abuse on hand (p < 0.025), but most respondents believed that information should be available in pharmacies to give to patients. Opportunities exist for pharmacists to provide educational materials to patients on domestic abuse and abuse intervention.