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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: Despite children's right to a non-violent upbringing,
they become daily victims of violence. Physical violence concerns
mostly the head-especially the orofacial area. Therefore, dentists and
paediatricians should be able to suspect possible abuse and to initiate
child protection. This study aimed to record and compare the training
situation and competencies of dental and medical students at Jena
University Hospital regarding child abuse and neglect (CAN).
MATERIALS
AND METHODS: Using a three-part questionnaire about CAN, 123 medical
and 77 dental students were surveyed anonymously after completing all
courses on the topic. The question sets included as follows: (1)
educational experiences, training content and satisfaction; (2) current
knowledge regarding diagnostic, management and legal concerns; (3)
self-evaluation, needs of further education and wishes. Reliability of
the questionnaire was tested with kappa-statistics and assessed as good.
RESULTS: Dental and medical students' overall satisfaction with
CAN-related training is low. Although medical students had more
knowledge on CAN, all participants showed large deficits. Better
diagnostic than management skills were reported in both groups. Only
1.3% dental and 16.3% medical students felt adequately prepared to deal
with CAN. 7% of all study participants stated that they can report CAN
without any help. 87.0% of medical and 79.2% of dental students
expressed a desire for further education. To improve their knowledge,
both courses prefer seminars, followed by expert talks, lectures and
simulation-based training (SkillsLab).
CONCLUSION: Dental and
medical students are inadequately prepared to suspect possible abuse and
to deal with possible signs of CAN. Mandatory interdisciplinary courses
and lectures addressing CAN are recommendable for both medical and
dental curricula.
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