Newswise — More than 90 percent of domestic violence victims suffer head, neck and facial injuries, placing dentists at the forefront of health care professionals positioned to recognize signs of abuse.
Two studies published in the May issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) focus on the dentist's role in helping curb domestic violence and assisting the estimated two to four million women who are abused physically each year.
In one study, a research team at the University of California San Francisco tested the effectiveness of a tutorial designed to educate dentists in identifying and responding to domestic violence.
They found that a four-stage intervention process called AVDR (Asking, Validating, Documenting, Referring) improved dentists' willingness and ability to intervene in suspected cases of domestic violence.
"The first step, asking about abuse, often is the hardest for any health care provider," researchers noted. "Dentists in our study reported that after the tutorial, they felt empowered to get through the first step and open the door for their patients."
A second study in May JADA explores a "predictive model" for identifying women likely to report injuries related to "intimate-partner violence," or IPV.
Conducted by researchers at the Harvard school of Dental Medicine, the study involving more than 300 women looks at such variables as age, race and the "risk of self-reporting" IPV-related injuries to help identify victims.
"Older subjects were less likely than younger subjects to report IPV-related injuries," the researchers noted. "Nonwhite subjects were almost four times more likely than their white counterparts to report IPV-related injuries."
JADA, a monthly journal, is the ADA's flagship publication and the best-read scientific journal in dentistry.
The not-for-profit ADA is the nation's largest dental association, representing more than 153,000 members. The premier source of oral health information, the ADA has advocated for the public's health and promoted the art and science of dentistry since 1859. The ADA's state-of-the-art research facilities develop and test dental products and materials that have advanced the practice of dentistry and made the patient experience more positive. The ADA Seal of Acceptance long has been a valuable and respected guide to consumer and professional products. For more information about the ADA, visit the Association's Web site at http://www.ada.org.
RSS