Awareness and perceptions of child maltreatment among medical students and interns: a cross-sectional study

Child maltreatment is an issue that burdens communities worldwide. Healthcare professionals, medical staff precisely, play a major role in the reporting responsibility, so it is crucial to ensure that none of the maltreatment cases are missed under medical supervision. This study aims to assess the awareness and perceptions of child maltreatment, and factors that affect reporting these cases among medical students and interns in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of five categories (demographic data, the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, awareness and perceptions of child maltreatment, awareness of reporting policy, and factors that contribute to lack of reporting) was distributed among the participants electronically. Data were analyzed using a chi-square test along with frequency distribution of the independent variables. Out of 341 participants, 57.2% were females, and the majority were in their senior years. Less than half of the participants (41.9%) believed that the most common form of child maltreatment is physical abuse. Most participants had adequate awareness of both short- and long-term consequences of child maltreatment. However, they believed that community members did not have adequate awareness about the issue. One-third of the participants believed that they received adequate education on the topic during their training. Furthermore, 78.9% of the participants thought that child maltreatment is often missed. Most participants (90.9%) believed that reporting child maltreatment must be mandatory even if the injuries were not fatal. The top three factors that prevented physicians from reporting child maltreatment were lack of understanding of the reporting procedure, fear of destroying family relationships, and doubt of the occurrence of child maltreatment. Early training and exposure to child maltreatment cases is recommended for all healthcare professionals.