Canadian Family Physiciansʼ and General Practitionersʼ Perceptions of Their Effectiveness in Identifying and Treating Wife Abuse

The authors attempted to determine the perceptions of Canadian family physicians and general practitioners regarding their effectiveness in identifying and treating abused female patients. A national sample of 963 family physicians and general practitioners were surveyed by questionnaire concerning their knowledge, attitudes, detection, treatment, and continuing medical education needs regarding this issue. Most respondents estimated that 15% of their female patients are victims of wife abuse; more than 50% believed that they failed to identify 30% of cases or more. Physician age and sex differences did not correlate with detection rates, but did correlate with treatment options. Finally, although the most common reasons cited for failing to detect cases were patients' unresponsiveness, lack of initiative, or infrequent visits, a majority of the physicians wanted more continuing education concerning wife abuse.