Doctors often close their eyes to domestic abuse affecting their patients, even though as many as one in four women seeking emergency medical care may be battered, health leaders said Tuesday.
A group of studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show U.S. physicians frequently do not recognize victims of domestic violence and if they do, many are reluctant to intervene."It is time to take this issue out of the shadows and address it openly. And we cannot simply mouth the words and raise our eyebrows while allowing violence through inaction or indifference," U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello said in a statement.
A survey of 38 doctors at a large health maintenance organization in an urban area found 61 percent had no training on domestic violence, while only 8 percent said they had good training on the problem.
More than 70 percent of the doctors indicated they did not ask patients about violence at home because it might take up too much time.
Fifty-five percent of physicians cited fear of offending the patient as a deterrent to talking about abuse, while 39 percent said they were more likely to bring up the topic with poor patients than those from white, middle-class backgrounds.
The survey was conducted between August 1990 and February 1991 by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Another report, prepared by the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, says most physicians fail to properly diagnose patients who are victims of domestic violence.
One study cited in the report found that emergency room doctors identified only one in 35 of their female patients as being battered, although a review of medical charts showed it was likely that one in four were victims of domestic abuse.
Physicians "should routinely inquire about abuse as part of the medical history," the report recommends.
In an effort to improve doctors' treatment of family violence, the American Medical Association Tuesday announced it would issue guidelines on preventing, diagnosing and treating child abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse and domestic violence between adults.