Are Healthcare Providers Ready to Tackle Partner Violence?

TOPLINE:

More than 80% of Malaysian primary healthcare providers lacked training in intimate partner violence (IPV) management. Factors such as longer work experience in primary care, prior training in managing IPV, and knowledge of the issue were associated with greater perceived preparedness.

METHODOLOGY:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the perceived preparedness of primary healthcare providers from five states in Malaysia to manage IPV and identify associated factors.
• A total of 60 health clinics, including 22 urban and 38 rural clinics, were randomly selected, and all eligible primary healthcare providers serving as the first point of contact in primary healthcare clinics were invited to participate.
• Data were collected via self-administered online surveys using the validated Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS)–Malay tool between June and August 2023.
• The PREMIS-Malay questionnaire, comprising six sections, was used to collect data on perceived preparedness, knowledge, opinions, and practice issues.
• Of the survey participants, 1505 (mean age, 38.1 years; 81.4% women) provided a complete or usable response.

TAKEAWAY:

• The study revealed that 81% of Malaysian primary healthcare providers had not received training on IPV, with only 29.1% reporting a good level of perceived preparedness, 12.2% reporting good perceived knowledge, and 8.6% reporting good actual knowledge.
• Scores for perceived and actual knowledge and staff constraints showed a positive association with the perceived preparedness score, whereas the victim understanding score showed a negative association (P < .05 for all).
• The likelihood of perceived preparedness for managing IPV was higher among participants with ≥ 10 years of experience in primary care (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.70; P < .001), those with prior training (aOR, 1.68; P = .014), and those who had ever inquired about IPV (aOR, 1.55; P = .013).
• Good levels of perceived and actual knowledge were associated with increased perceived preparedness (aOR, 15.21; P < .001 and aOR, 1.79; P = .021, respectively).

IN PRACTICE:

“By recognizing IPV as a significant public health burden, healthcare systems can enhance their response capacity and contribute to reducing the negative physical and psychological impacts of violence on victims,” the authors wrote.

“A coordinated, multidisciplinary approach involving stakeholders, policymakers, and healthcare educators is needed to establish a supportive health system with clear referral pathways across all levels of care,” they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Ying Ying Chan, of the Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, in Shah Alam, Malaysia. It was published online on March 31, 2025, in BMC Primary Care.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s cross-sectional design limited the ability to establish causal relationships between variables. The predominance of female participants may have influenced the findings, as male perspectives were underrepresented. Additionally, the self-reported nature of the data introduced the potential for social desirability bias, considering the sensitive topic of IPV.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education. No relevant conflicts of interest were disclosed by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.