title: Child physical abuse: health professionals' perceptions, diagnosis and responses.
abstract: The objectives of this cross-sectional survey were to assess primary health professionals' perceptions of and ability to recognize child physical abuse in their practice. A random sample was taken of 979 nurses, doctors, and dentists working in primary care in Northern Ireland. The response rate was 44%, and the results showed that 59% of respondents had seen a suspicious case of child physical abuse, of which 47% (n = 201) had reported it. Ability and willingness to recognize and report abuse varied across the three professions. The findings suggest a professional reluctance to engage in recognizing and reporting abuse. The barriers could be reduced by providing multi-professional and inter-agency training, support for the primary health professionals in practice, as well as higher education programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels for nursing, dentistry and medicine.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lazenbatt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Marcenes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003813:Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004496:Education, Continuing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009729:Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012938:Social Perception; D006113:United Kingdom