Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness among Medical Students

Abstract

Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and various forms of neglect of children have been encountered more frequently by healthcare providers, particularly physicians. However, mismanagement of child abuse and neglect (CAN) due to a lack of awareness of it can lead to substantial and serious consequences. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the awareness of CAN among medical students and compare it between preclinical and clinical males and females in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study using a self-reported-based questionnaire was carried out to study child abuse and neglect awareness and compare preclinical and clinical male versus female medical students during the first semester in 2021/2022. The majority of the participants were aware of CAN (90.6%), agreed that CAN exists locally (96.6%), believed that CAN is important in the medical field (96.3%), and expressed the important role of physicians in participating in the management of CAN (84.3%). Some students did not know about the legislation of CAN in Saudi Arabia (15%). The results show a lack of exposure to real CAN cases (80.3%) and the need for more formal education (70.3%). In general, the students were comparable, but there were significant differences showing more awareness in female students compared to males and, similarly, more awareness in clinical-year students. Both clinical and preclinical medical students were aware of CAN, with some concerns regarding their competency in dealing with CAN. CAN should be given more weight in the medical school curriculum.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical and Nursing Students in Greece Regarding Child Abuse and Neglect

“…According to our findings, the education provided by the medical and nursing curriculum was considered insufficient by the students themselves because only 19.7% of the participants reported having a chapter that covered CAN in their curriculum, while 27.3% reported that a professor took the initiative to discuss CAN. Similar findings can be seen in studies in China, the USA, and Saudi Arabia [ 15 , 16 ]. It is of interest to note that students in clinical years of medical and nursing studies reported a lack of confidence in handling a suspected case of CAN.…”

“…This intention was not correlated with the faculty to which the students belonged, their gender, or the year of their studies. A similar need was shown in other studies as well [ 16 , 17 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Child Abuse and Neglect: Awareness among Dental Students

“…Moreover, most of the students in our study were reasonably aware of CAN, with the majority acknowledging its existence in Saudi Arabia. In addition, most students agreed that CAN would affect the patient's well-being in the future, which aligns with the study findings of Al-Qahtani et al who studied the knowledge levels and educational experiences among dental graduates in Saudi Arabia regarding child abuse and neglect [22].…”

“…Regarding the sources of information about child abuse and neglect, social media emerged as the most accessed source among dental students, with 85.0% reporting it as a source of information, which agrees with the Al-Qahtani et al study, where the majority of participants believed that social media played a significant role in disseminating information about CAN [22]. Interestingly, we found that the dental college was reported as the least utilized source of information about child abuse and neglect, with only 50% of students perceiving it as a source.…”

Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect Among the General Public in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review

“…Some studies were conducted to assess the awareness of parents, teachers, health professionals, and the public about child abuse [11][12][13]. However, most of these studies focused on health professionals and teachers who are assumed to have more knowledge due to their training.…”