Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2025
Setup and Execution of the Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Death Notification Curriculum
Published on: August 5, 2020
Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding child maltreatment amongst Iranian medical students through internship
Mahsa Boroon1, Saba Mokhtari2, Marzieh Nojomi3
1Mental Health Research Center, Psychosocial Health Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
Medical students showed improved knowledge and practice in preventing child maltreatment during their internship. However, their attitudes toward diagnosing and reporting child abuse declined, indicating a gap between knowledge and practical application in identifying and intervening in child abuse cases.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Medical Education
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Child maltreatment is a global public health issue requiring physician involvement.
- Physicians play a crucial role in identifying and reporting child abuse to reduce its incidence.
- Effective identification and reporting of child maltreatment by educated physicians are vital for intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of Iranian medical students regarding child maltreatment.
- To evaluate changes in KAP during the medical internship course.
- To identify gaps in medical students' preparedness for child maltreatment cases.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 235 medical students from Iran University of Medical Sciences participated.
- A 49-item questionnaire assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice at the beginning and end of the internship.
- Longitudinal assessment over an 18-month internship period.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements were observed in knowledge of prevention and practice of prevention (p<0.001).
- Attitudes towards diagnosis and reporting of child maltreatment significantly decreased (p<0.001).
- Despite satisfactory knowledge and attitude, a majority of interns failed to identify (70.6%), refer (84.7%), or report (86.4%) child abuse cases.
Conclusions:
- Iranian medical interns demonstrate satisfactory knowledge and attitudes towards child maltreatment.
- Significant deficiencies exist in the practical application of identifying, referring, and reporting child abuse.
- Limited prior education on child maltreatment contributes to the gap between knowledge/attitude and practice.
Background:
Child maltreatment has been a major worldwide problem and has remained a persistent public health challenge in all countries. Physicians have a significant role in the prevention and intervention of child maltreatment. An educated physician that can effectively identify and report child maltreatment can fill one of the most significant gaps in reducing child abuse. This study was performed to examine the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding child maltreatment among Iranian medical students through an internship course.
Method:
All the medical students (235 students) of the Iran University of Medical Sciences who passed the internship entrance exam in the 2019-2020 academic year participated in this study. The participants completed a 49-item scale questionnaire built by combining three other validated questionnaires that evaluate their attitude, knowledge, and practice skills in the first month of their internship course and then completed the same questionnaire 18 months later, at the end-point of the internship period.
Results:
One-hundred thirty nine (59.1%) participants were female, and 96 (40.9%) were male. The mean age of the subjects was 24.35 ± 0.76. Only 7 (3%) of them formerly received any education about child maltreatment. There was a significant improvement in scores of the knowledge of prevention (p-value = 0.001), the practice of prevention (p-value < 0.001) and the general subscale of the practice section (p-value < 0.001) during the internship course. However, the performance of participants decreased significantly in the subscales of the attitude towards diagnosis (p-value = 0.001) and the attitude towards reporting (p-value < 0.001) of child maltreatment. At the end of the study, the result of graduated physicians was: The total knowledge and attitude of participants were satisfactory, and the majority were at reasonable levels. Although in the practice subscale, 70.6% of the participants didn't identify, 84.7% didn't refer, and 86.4% didn't report a child abuse case in the past year.
Conclusion:
The knowledge and attitude of Iranian physicians regarding child maltreatment are at a satisfactory level. Although, the practice level has deficiencies. In addition, our findings show that Iranian interns have a shallow experience regarding child maltreatment, particularly despite the higher scores in attitude and knowledge, which can be the reason for deficiencies in the practice level.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:30Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
02:16Surveys
01:29Assessment of the Gastrointestinal System II: Health Perception Pattern
Health Perception Patterns
Health perception patterns offer valuable insights into a patient's lifestyle habits and how they may impact their GI health. These patterns include:
01:08Obedience
02:40The Scientific Method
01:54Attitudes