A modified Delphi study aimed to develop content for a brain injury and cognitive dysfunction screening tool (BIC-FV) tailored to victim-survivors of family violence, using an expert panel of 22 participants (neuropsychologists, social workers, medical professionals, family violence clinicians, Aboriginal peoples, and people with lived experience) across three iterative survey rounds.
The expert panel reached consensus on 32 items for a full-form screening tool covering acquired brain injury, cognitive dysfunction, and psychological trauma; 16 of those 32 items were endorsed for a short form; and 6 optional demographic items were approved for both versions.
- Small expert panel (n=22 declining to n=17 by round 3), limiting breadth of consensus. - The BIC-FV tool has not yet been validated; psychometric properties (reliability, sensitivity, specificity) remain untested. - No victim-survivors were directly involved in completing the Delphi surveys; lived experience was represented through clinician proxies or panel members, not direct participant testing.
Existing brain injury screening tools were not designed for family violence settings and may miss cognitive and trauma-related sequelae in victim-survivors — the BIC-FV offers a purpose-built alternative once validated. Clinicians in family violence services should anticipate a short-form screening option (16 items) designed for frontline use, pending pilot validation studies.
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