title: Changing dentists' knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding domestic violence through an interactive multimedia tutorial.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Broad dissemination of the tutorial about DV would introduce dentists to simple strategies for responding to patients who experience DV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orofacial Sciences, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California San Francisco, CA 94117, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy Kwon
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herzig
authors.forename: Stuart A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Gansky
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Danley
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerbert
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000517:prevention & control; D004497:Education, Dental; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019212:Multimedia; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*