Prevalence of recognition and reporting of child physical abuse by dental surgeons and associated factors

Abstract

Studies evaluating the factors associated with under reporting and with the recognition and reporting of child physical abuse are scarce and highly necessary. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of recognition and reporting of child physical abuse (CPA) by Brazilian dentistsin primary care and associated factors. A cross-sectional study was carried out with a representative sample of dentistsfrom the Family Health Strategy in Belo Horizonte. A self-administered questionnaire validated to Brazilian Portuguesewas used for data collection. Statistical analysis included univariate and multiple analyses through Poisson regression. A total of 181dentists participated in the study. Among them, 73 (40.3%) had already recognized some cases of CPA, but only 11 (6.1%) ended up reporting. Dentists with six to 19 years of experience as a municipal worker presented 2.38 times [PR = 2.38 (95%CI: 1.29-4.41)] more probability to recognize cases of CPA than the ones with less than six years. Having a graduate degree with a major in childcare [PR = 4.50 (95%CI: 1.08-18.68)] was associated with a larger number of reports. The employment duration as municipal worker was positively associated with the recognition of CPA cases and the prevalence of reporting was low.

Professional practices in situations of child abuse: an integrative review

“…The articles were published in different national and international journals, with the Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva publishing 5 articles [24][25][26][27][28] and Revista da Abeno (journal published by the Brazilian Association of Dental Education) publishing three articles [29][30][31] . Three of the studies published by the Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva were conducted with health professionals working with children 24,27,28 , while the Revista da Abeno published two studies with dental graduates 29,30 and one with dental surgeons 31 .…”

“…The studies encompassed the areas of education, health, public security, social services, and child protection networks. The area of health accounted for the largest number of studies, with 12 articles 24,[27][28][29][30][31]39,[41][42][43][44][45] plus two articles involving both health and social services 32,35 . The areas of education 36 and public security 38 accounted only for 1 article each.…”

“…The identification and reporting of suspected or confirmed child maltreatment was one of the central themes of articles. The studies 27,28,30,39,42,43,46 reveal that most professionals are not adequately trained to identify violence against children, showing difficulties diagnosing child maltreatment due to lack of theoretical information on the theme and poor knowledge of the child, his/ her history, and family relations. Two studies 41,43 reported that professionals diagnose predominantly physical and sexual violence.…”

“…Once abuse has been identified, professionals face difficulties in filing a mandated report (MR) of violence to the child protection services. Most professionals showed that they were either unaware of the requirement or did not know how to fill in the form correctly or possible types of re- ferral for victims 25,28,31,42,43 . In addition, one of the studies 45 found that professionals were unaware of which institution they could refer cases of child maltreatment to.…”

“…Twenty of the 24 articles analyzed by this study mentioned deficiencies in professional training and lack of continuous training on child maltreatment. Shortcomings in professional training begin to emerge at degree level, where the topic of child maltreatment is undervalued and often not included in course curriculums 28,29,31,33,42,45 . Two studies 30,31 show that despite receiving training on child maltreatment during their degree, some professionals do not see themselves as responsible for identifying and reporting the problem.…”