Assessment of emergency medicine residents' ability to identify child neglect and abuse in the first  and second halves of their training

Beyzanur Kaç; Brunilda Mataj; Şerife Nur Şen; Bahadır Mert; İbrahim Topçu

doi:10.26900/hsq.3097

Authors

Beyzanur Kaç Health Sciences University / Türkiye 0000-0002-7461-1942
Brunilda Mataj University of Health Sciences / Türkiye 0009-0006-4394-1128
Şerife Nur Şen University of Health Sciences / Türkiye 0009-0006-2652-9641
Bahadır Mert University of Health Sciences / Türkiye 0009-0009-6070-8987
İbrahim Topçu University of Health Sciences / Türkiye 0000-0001-7685-8597

10.26900/hsq.3097

Abstract

This study aims to assess the knowledge, skills, and awareness of emergency medicine residents regarding child abuse and neglect-an extremely sensitive and serious public health issue. It also seeks to examine the impact of specialty training and certain demographic characteristics on this awareness and to identify and propose necessary actions within the context of medical ethics and law. In conclusion, this study aims to highlight key areas that will improve the clinical diagnostic accuracy of emergency medicine specialists working in the field and enhance early diagnosis rates in order to protect vulnerable children. This is a single-center descriptive study. Participants consisted of 167 emergency medicine residents receiving specialty training at the emergency departments of various training and research hospitals affiliated with the University of Health Sciences, Hamidiye Faculty of Medicine, in Istanbul. Resident physicians were divided into two groups based on whether they were in the first or last two years of their training. The participants were administered the "Scale for Identifying the Signs and Risks of Child Abuse and Neglect" along with a demographic information form. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 25 software package. No statistically significant differences were found between residents in the first and second halves of training regarding scale and subscale scores related to physical and behavioral signs of abuse, neglect indicators, and child, familial, or parental risk characteristics (p>0.05). However, residents without children demonstrated greater recognition of physical signs of abuse (p=0.044), while those with children scored higher on behavioral indicators of child abuse (p=0.018). A weak negative correlation was also observed between age and knowledge/awareness levels in detecting child abuse and neglect (p=0.003; r = –0.226). The study found no significant difference in the ability to identify child abuse and neglect between physicians in the first and second halves of their emergency medicine training. It was concluded that more research is needed to identify factors that may influence physicians’ ability to recognize and understand this important and sensitive issue.

Keywords:

Child abuse emergency medicine awareness

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