Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse among Malaysian paramedical students

There has been increasing awareness that sexual abuse of children is a problem in Malaysia. Existing data is based on notification of cases. Population based studies are required to plan services for sexually abused children. This study utilized trainee paramedical staff as a community population to determine the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse. An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was given to student nurses and trainee medical assistants at the Ipoh School of Nursing and Hospital Bahagia Medical Assistant Training School. Questionnaires were distributed directly to all students in a classroom setting and retrieved after a 30-minute interval. Information collected included questions on personal experiences of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse was defined as rape, sodomy, molestation, or exhibitionism occurring to a child less than 18 years of age. Six hundred and sixteen students participated in the study; 6.8% of the students admitted to having been sexually abused in their childhood, 2.1% of males and 8.3% of females. Of those abused, 69% reported sexual abuse involving physical contact, 9.5% of whom experienced sexual intercourse. The age at first abuse was < 10 years in 38.1% of the cases; 59.5% were repeatedly abused and 33.3% had more than one abuser. Of the abusers, 71.4% were known to the respondent, 14.2% of whom were brothers, 24.5% relatives, and 24.5% a family friend. Further, 28.9% of all students knew of an individual who had been sexually abused as a child. While this population may not be entirely reflective of the community, this study does provide an indication of the prevalence of sexual abuse in Malaysian children. The prevalence figures in this study are lower than those reported in industrialized countries and this may reflect local sociocultural limitations in reporting abuse.