Experience with suspecting child maltreatment in the Norwegian public dental health services, a national survey

Brattabø, Ingfrid Vaksdal; Iversen, Anette Christine; Åstrøm, Anne Nordrehaug; Bjørknes, Ragnhild

doi:10.1080/00016357.2016.1230228

Cited by 24 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Completed questionnaires were received from 1,200 responders, a response rate of 77.8%. For further information on the main study, see Brattabø et al (). Brattabø et al () report that 1/3 out of 1,200 respondents had suspected child maltreatment during their careers but did not report.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For further information on the main study, see Brattabø et al (). Brattabø et al () report that 1/3 out of 1,200 respondents had suspected child maltreatment during their careers but did not report. The present study is based on responses from 366 dental hygienists and dentists who reported reasons for not sending a report of concern to CWS during their careers when they had suspected child maltreatment or neglect.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The following socio‐demographic variables were used as independent variables: gender, education (dental hygienist or dentist), training during education on child maltreatment and reporting to CWS (yes/no), years of working experience in the public dental healthcare service (0–10/11+), number of patients in the last 12 months (0–500/501+), and size of the municipality (0–10 000/10 001+). These categories were based on results from the same study (Brattabø et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent decades, there has been increased focus on the role of dental healthcare personnel in detecting and reporting signs of child maltreatment to CWS. Although the number of reports of concern to CWS has increased in recent years, Norway and other European countries still face the problem of potential underreporting (Brattabø, Iversen, Åstrøm, & Bjørknes, ; Harris, Welbury, & Cairns, ; Uldum, Christensen, Welbury, & Haubek, ), which can have serious consequences for the children involved. As many as 1/3 of public dental healthcare personnel in Norway reported that there had been times in their careers when they had suspected child maltreatment but had failed to report their concerns (Brattabø et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Why are they reluctant to report? A study of the barriers to reporting to child welfare services among public dental healthcare personnel

Bjørknes

Iversen

Åstrøm

et al. 2018

Health Soc Care Community

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study is a national cross-sectional survey, conducted in November 2014, of 366 dental hygienists and dentists who had suspected maltreatment but did not report it to Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS). The aims of the present paper are to identify the reasons why public dental healthcare professionals are reluctant to report suspected child maltreatment to CWS and to determine whether there are differences in the identified barriers according to socio-demographic variables. The questionnaire was based on earlier studies and was adapted to fit the Norwegian context. The most frequently chosen reason for not reporting was "unsure of own assessment" (90.4%). Thirteen items pertaining to not reporting were factorised into three factors of barriers. These factors were "insufficient knowledge of child maltreatment and reporting", "fear of the consequences for oneself and the dental clinic", and "fear of the consequences for the patient and their family". A t test revealed that public dental healthcare personnel who had not received training on maltreatment and reporting to CWS during their professional education scored significantly higher on the barrier "insufficient knowledge of child maltreatment and reporting" than did dental personnel who had received such training. Furthermore, dental personnel with more years of experience (11+) scored higher on this barrier than did dental personnel with less experience. No other significant differences in barriers were observed. Public dental healthcare personnel have a mandatory obligation to report to CWS if they suspect child maltreatment. Despite this obligation, the present study reveals that several barriers to reporting exist. This study underscores the importance of strengthening knowledge among dental hygienists and dentists about when and how to report, both during education and in clinical practice. K E Y W O R D Sbarriers, child welfare services, fear of consequences, insufficient knowledge, mandatory reporting, public dental healthcare personnel

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Why are they reluctant to report? A study of the barriers to reporting to child welfare services among public dental healthcare personnel

Bjørknes

Iversen

Åstrøm

et al. 2018

Health Soc Care Community

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Dentists and dental hygienists are in a unique position to notice symptoms of child maltreatment, as 50 to 70% of all abused children have visible injuries on the head or in the neck region (Cairns, Mok, & Welbury, 2005a;Jesse, 1995;Welbury & Murphy, 1998). However, previous studies indicate a lack of knowledge in the professional dental teams on how to handle suspicions, including barriers and lack of knowledge about procedures for reporting such suspicions (Brattabo, Iversen, Astrom, & Bjørknes, 2016;Cairns, Mok, & Welbury, 2005b;Cukovic-Bagic et al, 2015;Drigeard, Nicolas, Hansjacob, & Roger-Leroi, 2012;Hashim & Al-Ani, 2013;Kaur et al, 2016;Laud, Gizani, Maragkou, Welbury, & Papagiannoulis, 2013;Mogaddam, Kamal, Merdad, & Alamoudi, 2016;Owais, Qudeimat, & Qodceih, 2009;Uldum, Christensen, Welbury, & Poulsen, 2010;Uldum, Christensen, Welbury, & Haubek, 2017). The available reports on this topic are all conducted in large-scale societies, but one of these (Brattabo et al, 2016) showed that public dental health personnel working in smaller municipalities (≤ 10,000 inhabitants) reported suspicion of child maltreatment less frequently than dental public health personnel working in larger municipalities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental professionals' experience with and handling of suspicion of child maltreatment in a small‐scale society, the Faroe Islands

Jakobsen¹,

Fjallheim

Gislason

et al. 2019

Clinical & Exp Dental Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aims of the present study were to describe how frequently dental professionals in a small‐scale society like the Faroese Islands, experience suspicion on child maltreatment, and how they handle their suspicion. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate the hypothesis that the special interpersonal characteristics of small‐scale societies like the Faroese, influence how dental professionals handle suspicion of child maltreatment compared to how their colleagues in larger societies handled such suspicion. The design of our study was cross‐sectional using a non‐probability purposive sampling method. A translated and slightly modified version of the Danish questionnaire regarding suspicion on child maltreatment was sent to all 71 dental professionals (44 dentists and 27 dental hygienists) in the Faroe Islands. 51 (72%) returned a valid questionnaire. Of these, 61% experienced suspicion of child maltreatment at some point in their career, 33% within the last 6 months, and 10% percent were certain of child maltreatment during the last six months. Of those respondents who had experienced suspicion at some point of their career, 39% had reported their suspicion. The main reasons for withholding a suspicion were: uncertainty as to whether the suspicion was reliable, fear of the consequences for the child, and lack of procedural knowledge. Faroese dental professionals suspected child maltreatment much more frequently (61%) than their Danish (38%), Scottish (29%), and Croatian colleagues (26%) did. Child maltreatment raises concern among the Faroese dental professionals more frequently than among their colleagues in larger societies. They also seem to report their concern more frequently than their Scottish colleagues do. Thus, the present study indicates that the social structure in small‐scale societies may affect dental professionals' suspicions, and handling of child maltreatment.

show abstract

Subjects for Discussion in the Professions

Koff

2021

The Dental Team in the European Union

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Experience with suspecting child maltreatment in the Norwegian public dental health services, a national survey

Cited by 24 publications

References 34 publications

Why are they reluctant to report? A study of the barriers to reporting to child welfare services among public dental healthcare personnel

Why are they reluctant to report? A study of the barriers to reporting to child welfare services among public dental healthcare personnel

Dental professionals' experience with and handling of suspicion of child maltreatment in a small‐scale society, the Faroe Islands

Subjects for Discussion in the Professions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About