Jordanian Dental Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes in Regard to Child Physical Abuse

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate Jordanian dental students' educational experience, attitudes, and knowledge regarding child physical abuse. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by 441 undergraduate and postgraduate dental students in both dental schools in Jordan. Descriptive statistics were used to report responses to each question. The chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between students' responses and level of education; the difference was considered signiicant if the probability of the difference was less than 5 percent. Results indicated major lack of knowledge of social indicators, signs of physical abuse, and reporting procedure among all respondents with no signiicant difference between postgraduate and undergraduate students. Most students indicated that their dental school was the main source of information on this topic; however, more postgraduates reported beneit from extracurricular sources. We conclude that dental students in Jordan are not suficiently prepared to undergo their role in protection of children from abuse. Dental curricula in both dental schools include information on the topic of child abuse; however, the content should be expanded to better prepare the students.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of healthcare professionals regarding child maltreatment in China

“…However, the results in this study showed that healthcare professionals had poor knowledge on how to identify potential child maltreatment cases. This has been reported in similar studies in other parts of the world (Al‐Jundi et al, ; Cairns, Mok, & Welbury, ; Sonbol et al, ; Thomas, Straffon, & Inglehart, ). For example, Kirankumar et al () found that medical professionals of North Karnataka's Bagalkot District in India had poor knowledge as they undervalued the impact of child abuse.…”

“…In countries with relatively good child dental care system, dentists tended to be the first professionals to discover physical abuse cases, as the most common indicators are located within the mouth and surrounding regions (Laud, Gizani, Maragkou, Welbury, & Papagiannoulis, ). In addition, on the basis of how regularly dental practitioners are in contact with children and their families, they are in a favourable position to observe abnormal child–parent behaviour and to identify and report suspected cases of child maltreatment (Al‐Jundi, Zawaideh, & Al‐Rawi, ).…”

Assessment of knowledge and attitudes of dental students in regard to child abuse in Turkey

“…Jordan et al also found less than half of the students responded correctly to the questions regarding their knowledge of signs of child abuse . In studies from other countries, it was revealed that dental students had insufficient knowledge about child abuse and they did not feel ready for their role of protecting children .…”

“…The average time required to answer the questions was 10 min. The questionnaire was composed of 29 questions, and it was based on similar previous studies .…”

Informed consent learning: Needs and preferences in medical clerkship environments

“…The need for greater education in this field has been expressed even among health professionals with immense levels of engagement with child protection [ 32 ]. In Jordan, 124 (32.4%) undergraduates and 23 (39.7%) postgraduates dental students did not know where to report child abuse and neglect [ 33 ]. Strong endorsement advocating the need for education regarding all applied ethics topics is not surprising as lack of relevant training has been noted in other countries such as Germany [ 34 ] and the USA [ 35 ].…”