Dentistry responding to domestic violence and abuse: a dental, practice-based intervention and a feasibility study for a cluster randomised trial.

Abstract

Objectives Assess the feasibility of using the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) intervention in a general dental practice setting and evaluating it using a cluster randomised trial design. IRIS is currently used in general medical practices to aid recognition and support referral into specialist support of adults presenting with injuries and other presenting factors that might have resulted from domestic violence and abuse. Also, to explore the feasibility of a cluster randomised trial design to evaluate the adapted IRIS.Design Feasibility study for a cluster randomised trial of a practice-based intervention.Setting Greater Manchester general dental practices.Results It was feasible to adapt the IRIS intervention used in general medical practices to general dental practices in terms of training the clinical team and establishing a direct referral pathway to a designated advocate educator. General dental practices were keen to adopt the intervention, discuss with patients when presented with the opportunity and utilise the referral pathway. However, we could not use practice IT software prompts and data collection as for general practitioners because there is no unified dental IT system and because coding in dentistry for diagnoses, procedures and outcomes is not developed in the UK.Conclusion While it was feasible to adapt elements of the IRIS intervention to general dental practice and there was general acceptability, we did not have enough empirical data to plan a definitive cluster randomised trial design to evaluate the IRIS-dentistry intervention within general dental practices.