A cross-sectional survey of child abuse management knowledge among emergency medicine personnel in Cape Town, South Africa

Knowledge and awareness level of health undergraduate students on child abuse: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to investigate the level of knowledge of symptoms and risks of child abuse among undergraduate health science students according to their socio-demographic characteristics.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study involving 485 student volunteers. The data collection tools used in the study were the Demographic Data Collection Form and the Scale for Diagnosing Symptoms and Risks of Child Abuse and Neglect.

RESULTS

It was found that health students' knowledge of the symptoms and risks of child abuse was moderate. It was also found that knowledge of diagnosing the symptoms and risks of child abuse was higher among women than among men, higher among those who had received education on child abuse, and increased with grade level.

CONCLUSION

Child abuse is an important public health issue, and there is a need to raise awareness of this issue among health students.

Barriers to identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect experienced by medical officers and nursing staff in emergency departments of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District

OBJECTIVE

This structured survey sought to identify barriers to recognising and reporting potential child abuse by medical officers and nursing staff in the EDs of three Western Sydney hospitals. These include a large metropolitan teaching hospital, a small metropolitan hospital and a rural hospital.

METHODS

A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative study methodology was used to survey potential participants. The electronic survey was distributed to participants to assess knowledge and experiences with identifying child abuse presenting to the ED over a 6-month period. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 121 responses were received from 340 potential participants, giving a participation rate of 35%. The majority of the respondents were senior medical officers (38/110, 34%) or registered nurses (35/110, 32%). The study participants perceived the lack of time as the most significant barrier to reporting child abuse (85/101, 84%). This was followed by a lack of education (35/101, 34%), resources (33/101, 32%) and support (30/101, 29%).

CONCLUSION

The combination of hospital, departmental and individual staff issues such as time limitations, lack of resources, education and support are potential barriers to reporting suspected child abuse. We recommend tailored teaching sessions, improved reporting procedures and increased support from senior staff to overcome these barriers.

Identification of Child and Youth Maltreatment as Experienced by Prehospital Emergency Care Providers

This mixed method study explores 200 prehospital emergency care providers' experiences of identifying child and youth maltreatment. The data were collected in Finland in 2019-2020 using an online survey tool and analysed using SPSS statistics and inductive content analysis. Respondents had encountered signs of physical and psychosocial maltreatment, and family challenges, contexts, and economic and social problems indicative of maltreatment. It is important for the early intervention and prevention of long-term mental health problems that prehospital emergency care providers receive continuing education on the identification of child maltreatment.

Perceived Child Abuse and Neglect in Hospitalized Children with Special Health Care Needs in Iran

BACKGROUND

Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is an important public health concern. Nurses play a key role in caring for the children and keeping them safe from abuse and neglect. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of perceived CAN in Hospitalized Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) as well as the relationship between the rate and some effective factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study on 199 CSHCN aged 6-18 years old, admitted to the pediatric wards in an educational hospital, in Isfahan, Iran, in 2018. Children were selected through convenience sampling method and assessed for CAN through a child abuse questionnaire. The Pearson correlation coefficient and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data. The p values smaller than 0.05 were regarded as significant.

RESULTS

According to the findings, 173 children (86.93%) had perceived CAN, the average total score of which was 9.36 contributing commonly to malnutrition 3.01 (2.36) followed by psycho-emotional abuse 2.71 (1.76), neglect 1.62 (1.23), and physical 1.52 (1.08) and sexual 0.54 (0.31) abuse based on mean (SD). Statistical analysis indicated a significant effect of child's age, economic situation of the family, mother's education and occupation, and parents' illness on the total score of perceived CAN (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Malnutrition was found to be the most common type of perceived CAN. Therefore, parents and the health system are advised to prioritize nutritional needs when planning their nutrition.