Although orthopedic surgeons often treat patients with musculoskeletal injuries, one of the most common physical manifestations of intimate partner violence, these physicians are less likely than other providers to refer their patients to domestic violence programs, according to new research from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
For their study, the authors examined 24 years of data representing over 11,000 patients referred to two unidentified, in-hospital, domestic-abuse intervention programs. Among these patient referrals, 18.1 percent came from emergency departments, 14.8 percent were self-referrals, 8.4 percent came from OB/GYN providers, and 5.2 percent came from primary care physicians. In contrast, only 0.3 percent were orthopedic referrals.
“This research shows we have an opportunity to support patients in a way that can be just as important as the surgery itself,” said lead author Ophelie Lavoie-Gagne, a clinical fellow in orthopedic surgery at Mass General.
To encourage more screening for domestic violence injuries, Dr. Lavoie-Gagne and her co-authors advocate for interventions that enhance orthopedic surgeons’ awareness of intimate partner violence, as well as the integration of artificial intelligence tools that could objectively recognize patterns of domestic violence manifestations in patients.
“The intervention is not necessarily to convince someone to leave their partner; only they can decide that,” said Dr. Lavoie-Gagne. “Sometimes the intervention is just to empower someone, to say that what’s happening to them at home is not okay.”