Knowledge and Attitudes regarding Child Abuse and Neglect

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to assess knowledge and attitude of dentists in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) regarding signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect (CAN), reporting procedure and level of education. METHODS Data were collected through a self-administrated structured questionnaire adopted and modified from previous studies. It was administrated to 300 dentists out of which a total number of 210 subjects were in final sample for statistical analyses. Response rate was seventy percent. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to analyze statistical differences in responses. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS Dentists in BH are very rarely provided (80%) with training related to recognition and reporting of CAN. Sixty six percent of dentists had never suspected CAN in their practice. Only nine percent of dentists would report suspicious of CAN. Prevailing reasons for not reporting suspected case of CAN was lack of knowledge of the reporting procedure (43%), and combination of indicated answers that never had a case and lack of knowledge about the procedure (31%). CONCLUSION Results of this study suggest that dentists need an effective education to increase their knowledge and awareness of all aspects of CAN.