Tools for Assessing Healthcare Providers’ Readiness to Respond to Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review

Purpose Healthcare providers’ (HCPs) readiness to respond to intimate partner violence (IPV) is crucial for early detection and management of patients experiencing IPV. This systematic review aims to identify currently available tools for assessing HCPs’ readiness to respond to IPV, evaluate their measurement properties, and summarize the quality of evidence to facilitate the selection of appropriate instrument. Methods A systematic search was performed in PubMed, CINAHL, Ovid, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library from inception to October 2022, supplemented by hand searching and gray literature searches. Two authors independently screened studies based on predefined criteria and completed data extraction. The Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist was used for methodological quality assessment. Results Of 34 studies included in this review, nine measurement tools were identified for the evaluation of measurement properties and overall quality ratings. Internal consistency (31 studies), content validity (29 studies), and structural validity (21 studies) were the most reported psychometric properties. The Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS) tool is the most widely used instrument for assessing HCPs’ readiness to respond to IPV, with moderate to high evidence for sound psychometric quality. Conclusions The identified tools vary in psychometric properties depending on the assessment’s context, target population, and study setting. The PREMIS is the most cross-culturally adapted instrument across various countries and is promising for assessing HCPs’ readiness to respond to IPV. However, further psychometric evaluation prior to utilization in different healthcare populations and settings is recommended.