Changing dentists' knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding domestic violence through an interactive multimedia tutorial.

BACKGROUND Dentists have a unique opportunity to address the problem of domestic violence (DV). The authors tested the effectiveness of a tutorial designed to educate dentists in identifying and responding to DV. METHODS The authors developed a brief interactive multimedia tutorial for dentists and recruited practicing dentists (N = 174) for a randomized, controlled trial. A 24-question instrument assessed participants' knowledge, attitudes and practice behaviors regarding DV at two time points. The control group took the tutorial before completing a posttest. The authors also administered a 20-question empathy scale. RESULTS The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in scores on most items, including knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, relative to control subjects (P < .01). Empathy scores did not show significant correlation with change scores on the DV assessment instrument. CONCLUSIONS The tutorial is effective in helping dentists learn how to identify and help patients who are experiencing abuse. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Broad dissemination of the tutorial about DV would introduce dentists to simple strategies for responding to patients who experience DV.