Knowledge, experiences and attitudes of dental health professionals towards reporting child abuse in Western Australia

Association of child abuse and neglect training with filing reports of concern to child welfare services: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The aptitude, knowledge, and competence of dental health personnel on child abuse and neglect (CAN) is not optimal for deciding when to file a report of concern to child welfare services (CWS).

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was, firstly, to assess the association of the public dental health personnel 's (PDHP) training on CAN received in the last three work years, i.e., in 2016 through 2018 with filing reports to the CWS in the same period and secondly to assess the association of expressed need of training on CAN with filing reports to the CWS.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study uses data from an electronic survey census of PDHP from Norway (n = 1791) conducted in 2019. The Pearson chi-square test, non-parametric tests, logistic, and negative binomial regression were used for unadjusted and adjusted analysis. Data was reported with proportions, odds ratios (OR), incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

From 2016 to 2018, the prevalence estimate of filing reports to CWS was 50%, with a mean (standard deviation) of 1.39 (2.11) reports sent. The logistic regression analysis showed an association between filing reports of concern and CAN training in the last three years. Compared to those that had not received CAN training during the three previous years, the ORs (95% CI) for filing reports to the CWS during the same period was 2.5 (1.6-4.0) for one day CAN work training, 3.2 (2.0-5.1) for 2-4 days CAN training and 4.9 (2.6-9.4) for five or more days CAN training. Compared to workers who did not need training in reporting (routines of CAN), those who expressed the need for a little more and more training were less likely to file a report. The corresponding OR were 0.6 (0.4-0.9) and 0.6 (0.3-0.9), respectively.

CONCLUSION

CAN training during the last three years is associated with filing reports of concern to CWS in the same period among PDHP in Norway. The likelihood of filing CAN reports increased with the number of days of CAN training received. Secondly, the PDHP with an expressed need for training on CAN routines were less likely to report suspicions to CWS.

Strategies adopted by oral physicians, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and oral pathologists in patient education on oral cancer: A Nigerian study

BACKGROUND

The burden of oral cancer in Nigeria is increasing. Different studies have shown how public education on oral cancer have increased knowledge of oral cancer across populations, however, it is not known if these practices are adopted by oral physicians, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and oral pathologists in Nigeria.

AIMS

To investigate the patient oral cancer education strategies adopted by oral physicians, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and oral pathologists in Nigeria.

METHODS

This study adopted an analytical cross-sectional study design. This study surveyed practicing oral physicians, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and oral pathologists in Nigeria. An e-questionnaire was used for this study. The data were analyzed using the SPSS Version 20 software, and a p-value of <.05 was used to determine the level of statistical significance.

RESULTS

The study's response rate was 46.6% (75/161). The 75 participants were from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria responded to the survey questionnaire. Even though more than half (43/75, 57.3%) of the respondents have never received any training since their post-bachelor's degree qualification on the strategies that can be used in educating patients on oral cancer, majority (54/75, 72.0%) of them knew at least one education strategy; also, the most known (36/54, 66.7%) and utilized (33/54, 61.3%) strategy among those respondents who were aware of patient education strategy was health talk. Only 38.7% (29/75) of the respondents reported that health learning materials (posters, leaflets, fliers, and flipcharts) are available in their clinics, all of which were in insufficient quantities. Also, 93.3% (70/75) of the respondents opined that it is worthwhile that dental clinics/hospitals in Nigeria invest in the provision of oral cancer learning materials for patient use. Inferential statistical analysis did not reveal any significant relationship between the respondents' characteristics and their awareness and practice on patient oral cancer education strategies.

CONCLUSION

This study identified that many oral physicians, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and oral pathologists in Nigeria lack the needed capacity to educate their patients on oral cancer. There is a need to strengthen their capacity by giving them training on patient oral cancer education strategies, and by providing them with good quality and enough teaching aids.

The experiences of Finnish dental professionals in handling child abuse and neglect issues in their daily work

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the experiences, attitudes and knowledge of child abuse and neglect (CAN) among dentists, dental hygienists and dental nurses in Finland.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A web-based CAN survey was sent to 8500 Finnish dental professionals, covering demographic characteristics, dental education, suspicion of CAN, actions taken and reasons for inaction as well as training on CAN issues. The chi-squared (χ2) test was used to analyse associations.

RESULTS

In total, 1586 questionnaires with valid data were completed. Among respondents, 25.8% had received at least some undergraduate training and 36.3% had received postgraduate training on child maltreatment issues. In addition, 43% of respondents had at least one suspicion of CAN at some point during their career. Of those, 64.3% did not refer to social services. Training positively associated with the identification of CAN and referral frequencies. Uncertainty about an observation (80.1%) and a lack of knowledge regarding procedures (43.9%) were the most frequently reported barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

Finnish dental professionals need more education on child abuse and neglect issues. Competence related to CAN is fundamental to their skills given that all dental professionals regularly work with children and are obligated to report their concerns to proper authorities.

Response rates to questionnaire-based studies in the contemporary dental literature: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

This systematic review aimed to investigate what is a reasonable response rate for dental questionnaire-based studies in recent literature and to assess the factors that affect the response rates.

METHODS

We used MEDLINE/PubMed to search the dental literature of 2021 (January-October). Two reviewers independently assessed studies eligibility and extracted data using standardized electronic extraction form.

RESULTS

One hundred and seventy-two studies were eligible, of these a total of 149 response rates were reported from 133 studies, whereas the remaining 39 studies were excluded as they did not report response rates. The median response rate across the included studies was 77% (mean = 70.8%). We found significant negative correlation between the response rate and the actual number of distributed questionnaires (sample size) (r = -0.4127; P < 0.001). We also found an association between the response rate and the area of distribution, e.g., national or international (P = 0.0012). However, a wide variation was observed in the quality of information reported within this review and we did not find clear evidence of association between the response rate and other variables such as questionnaire piloting, number of questions in the questionnaire and the journal impact factor.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this systematic review confirm the association between the response rate and the sample size, where the response rate increases when the sample size less than 300 participants. In addition, a higher response rate could be achieved when the study conducted within the same institution (e.g., university).

SIGNIFICANCE

Questionnaire-based research can provide answers to several questions that could not be answered by other types of research related to the field of dentistry, dental health practitioners and students' attitudes and behaviours and more. Questionnaire-based publications can effectively contribute to dental research; thus, dental journals should consider development of a minimum set of guidelines in the reporting of questionnaire-based manuscripts.