Using a QR-Code on a poster in primary care waiting rooms as a medium to screen for intimate partner violence

Christophe Berkhout, Alix Teneur, François Quersin, Axel Descamps, Lieve Peremans, Paul Van Royen

Keywords: Intimate partner violence, risk assessment, poster, waiting rooms, social isolation.

Background:

One woman out of ten is a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV). In France, every year, about 120 women are killed by their partner. Victims would have liked their GP or midwife to tackle the problem in 73% of cases, as 52% of them don’t initiate proceedings. The Woman abuse screening tool has been validated in French (WAST-F). There is few literature about the use of posters exposing a Quick Response-Code (QR-Code) in waiting rooms.

Research questions:

To test the efficacy of a QR-Code on a poster in the waiting room of GPs and midwives to screen for IPV. To evaluate the duration of the motivation of GPs and midwives to screen for IPV in real life.

Method:

The design was a cross-section observational study implemented between May and October 2022. Investigators were GPs and midwives. Women were included if they were aged 18 years or more, if they had a smartphone with an Internet connection and if they were consulting alone. The WAST-F was attainable online scanning a QR-Code on a poster in the waiting room. In all eligible women, investigators were expected to complete another questionnaire checking for inclusion criteria and tackling explicitly IPV.

Results:

Twenty GPs and midwives included patients. Forty women scanned the QR-Code and completed the WAST-F questionnaire, 17 completing both questionnaires. Investigators included 227 patients, 210 completing only the investigator’s questionnaire. Sixteen (18%) patients were screened positive for IPV. In 8 cases, the investigator was not aware of it. The poster was noted by 139 patients (61%), 199 (88%) had a smartphone with an Internet connection and 2 (1%) scanned the QR-Code and completed online the WAST-F before the encounter. Fifteen (7%) patients completed the WAST-F after the encounter. Despite reminders, inclusions drastically decreased after 10 weeks. A sustained rhythm of one QR-Code scanned weekly was observed.

Conclusions:

Points for discussion:

It was noted that women consulting their GP for themselves were often accompanied by their partner

People use their smartphones in waiting rooms for gaming but seldom scan QR-Codes on posters

Sustained screening for IPV in women is difficult to implement in primary care