Knowledge, Personal views and Experiences of a Group of Dental Interns Toward Physical Child Abuse: A Cross-Sectional Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University

2 Pedodontics, faculty of dentistry, Cairo university

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, personal views, and experiences of a group of dental interns toward Physical Child Abuse.
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study with convenient sampling was conducted on dental interns practicing in the Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health Department, Cairo University from March to August 2018 using an anonymous, self-administered structured questionnaire. Three hundred questionnaires were distributed each month at the end of the training period, and 238 questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis to assess Knowledge, personal views, and experiences regarding physical child abuse. Collected data were tabulated and statistically analyzed.
Results: The response rate was 79.3% (n=238/300) including 83.6% Egyptians, and 85.7% had no training in dealing with child abuse cases. The participants in the study showed moderate knowledge about the signs and symptoms of physical child abuse. Participants’ personal views towards detecting and reporting cases were generally positive, 50.4% of the participants had suspected a case of child abuse before, and only 3% of them reported the cases.
Conclusions: Dental interns have moderate knowledge about physical child abuse and positive attitudes towards their role in detecting and reporting these cases.

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