Abstract
Objectives:
to describe the medical interventions and referrals carried out by the general practitioner (GP) when taking care of victims and to quantify the between-physician variability in management of domestic violence.
Methods:
A nationwide sentinel network of 150 general practitioners, covering 1.5 % of the Belgian population, registered in 2002–2004 all episodes of domestic violence for which they were consulted, via paper registration forms. A multilevel analysis was carried out by fitting a random effects logistic regression model for every intervention/referral.
Results:
The most frequent interventions of the GP were providing a certificate of injury (54 %), and making an appointment for a next visit (33 %). Half of the patients were referred or hospitalised upon the first consultation, most frequently they were advised to go to the police (17 %) or referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist (11 %). The intra cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) of the interventions varied between 11 % and 39 % and the median odds ratios between 1,82 and 3,96.
Conclusions:
GP consultations for domestic violence are frequent and involve considerable between-physician variability in care.
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Submitted: 01 August 2007; revised: 08 October 2008; accepted: 15 December 2008
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Bossuyt, N., van Casteren, V. Domestic violence: variation in case-management by the general practitioner in Belgium. Int J Public Health 54, 106–111 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-7074-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-7074-0