Child maltreatment: Cross-sectional survey of general dentists.
J Forensic Dent Sci
; 9(1): 24-30, 2017.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28584471
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Child abuse continues to be a social menace causing both physical and emotional trauma to benevolent children. Census has shown that nearly 50-75% of child abuse include trauma to mouth, face, and head. Thus, dental professionals are in a strategic position to identify physical and emotional manifestations of abuse.AIM:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess knowledge and attitude of dental professionals on the exigent issue of child abuse.METHODOLOGY:
With prior consent, a 20-question survey including both multiple choice and dichotomous (yes/no) questions was mailed to 120 state-registered general dentists and the data collected were subjected to statistical analysis. STATISTICALANALYSIS:
The overall response rate to the questionnaires was 97%. Lack of knowledge about dentist role in reporting child abuse accounted to 55% in the reasons for hesitancy to report. Pearson's Chi-square test did not show any significant difference between male and female regarding the reason for hesitancy to report and legal obligation of dentists.RESULTS:
Although respondent dentists were aware of the diagnosis of child abuse, they were hesitant and unaware of the appropriate authority to report.CONCLUSION:
Increased instruction in the areas of recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect should be emphasized.
Texto completo:
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Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudio:
Prevalence_studies
Idioma:
En
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article