Knowledge Levels of Child Abuse and Neglect Among a Group of Turkish Dentistry Students

Year 2025, , 187 - 194, 15.01.2025

Canan Bayraktar Nahir , Seda Göllü , Necibe Damla Şahin

https://doi.org/10.37990/medr.1599726

Abstract

Aim: Dentists play an important role in identifying signs of child abuse and neglect and reporting them to the appropriate authorities. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of a group of dental students in the Central Black Sea region about child abuse and neglect.
Material and Method: This cross-sectional study includes dental students from the Faculty of Dentistry at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, enrolled during the 2023-2024 academic year. An online survey consisting of 28 questions was administered to dental students who agreed to participate, covering demographic information and assessing their knowledge level regarding child abuse and neglect. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA.
Results: A total of 266 (70.4%) students aged between 18 and 25 participated in this study. Among the dental students reported that 10.2% suspected child abuse and neglect, while 9.8% stated that they would prefer to report when they suspect such cases. While 58.6% of dental students believed that child abuse and neglect should be reported legally, 60.9% stated that they may not report suspected cases due to the possibility of making a misdiagnosis. While the impact of gender on dental students' knowledge levels regarding child abuse and neglect was not observed, the effect of academic year was significant (p<.05), with the lowest knowledge levels found among 1st grade students.
Conclusion: This study highlights the deficiencies in dental students' knowledge regarding the identifying of child abuse and neglect in dentistry, as well as their legal obligations. Therefore, it is recommended that all dental students receive education on child abuse and neglect.

Keywords

Child abuse, child neglect, student

Ethical Statement

This study was approved by the Tokat Gaziosmapaşa University Clinical Research Local Ethics Committee (Approval No. 23-KAEK-152, dated June 22, 2023).

Supporting Institution

None

Thanks

None

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