Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies.
| Study (year), country, setting | Characteristics of participants (preregistration/postregistration/mixed) and field of study (number of participants) |
Intervention (duration) | Control | Results |
| Danley et al (2004), USA, university [46] | Mixed (dental students and dentists); dentistry (N=174) | Offline interactive multimedia tutorial on DVa designed to educate dentists to identify and respond to DV. Control group had no intervention. Assessment via questionnaires (15-25 min) | No intervention | Intervention demonstrated significantly improved attitudes and knowledge compared to the control group. |
| Harris et al (2002), USA, medical association [47] | Postregistration (physicians); primary care, emergency medicine, and orthopedics (N=121) | Online DV program designed to improve the confidence of practicing physicians in managing DV patients. Assessment via questionnaires (2 weeks to complete the program) | No intervention | Online education program on DV can improve physician confidence (measured by self-efficacy), attitudes, and self-reported knowledge in managing DV patients. In addition, 17.8% mean change in the self-efficacy domain score for the intervention group versus –0.6% change for the control group (P<.001) was observed. Self-reported user satisfaction with the program was high. |
| Hsieh et al (2006), USA, university and clinics [48] | Postregistration (dentists); dentistry (N=174) | Offline interactive multimedia tutorial on DV designed to educate dentists to identify and respond to DV. Assessment via questionnaires (15 min) | No intervention | The posttest comparison of the two groups was statistically significant (P=.01) in favor of the online training group. |
| Shapiro et al (2014), USA, university [49] | Preregistration (dental students); dentistry (N=72) | Online interactive training module to educate dental students on child abuse, assessed via questionnaires (3 weeks for reviewing the online module) | Traditional lecture-based session | In LGb, 91.6% agreed or strongly agreed that the traditional lecture was a good way to learn the material. |
| Short et al (2006), USA, community practice [43] | Postregistration (community physicians); family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology (N=52) | Online CMEc program to educate HCPsd on IPVe program in a community practice setting assessed via self-administered, paper-based survey tool (minimum 4 hours) | No intervention | Online CMEf survey program for physician readiness to manage intimate partner violence was successful in improving physicians’ IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. |
| Smeekens et al (2011), The Netherlands, medical center [50] | Postregistration (nurses); emergency medicine (N=38) | Offline program designed to educate nurses to recognize child abuse in a simulated case, assessed via performance in simulated cases (minimum of 2 hours during a 2-week period) | No intervention | Nurses in the intervention group performed significantly better during the simulation than the control group and reported higher self-efficacy. |
aDV: domestic violence.
bLG: lecture group
cCME: Continued Medical Education.
dHCP: health care professional.
eIPV: intimate partner violence.
fContinued Medical Education is defined as “educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a health professional uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession” [48].