Attitude of primary care professionals to gender violence. A comparative study between Catalonia and Costa Rica

Objective Describe the relationship between the attitude towards violence against women (VAW) of professionals of the health of primary care with variables such professional satisfaction, workload, orientation of professional practice, knowledge, training and use of network in Catalonia and Costa Rica. Design Cross-exploratory and comparative study. Location Primary care in Barcelona and nearby counties and the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica. Participants 235 primary health professionals of Medicine, Nursing, Psychology and Social Work. Main measurements Questionnaire with eight sections about attitudes, professional satisfaction, and orientation of professional practice, workload, knowledge, training and use of network. Three types of analysis were carried out: a descriptive one by country; a bivariate analysis; and a multivariable linear regression model. Results Primary Health Professionals attitudes towards VAW health were similar in both contexts (Catalonia: 3.90 IC 95% 3.84-3.96; Costa Rica: 4.03 IC 95% 3.94-4.13). The variables associated with attitudes towards VAW were: Use of network resources (B = 0.20, 95% CI -0.14-0.25, P=<.001), Training (B = 0.10, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.17, P=<0.001), and country, Costa Rica (B = 0.16, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.25, P=<0.001). There was no interaction between the country and the other variables, suggesting that the association between the variables and the attitude is similar in both countries. Conclusions The results suggest that increased use of network resources and training are related to a positive attitude towards VWA in primary health professionals, both in Catalonia and Costa Rica.