title: Child abuse education: an objective evaluation of resident and attending physician knowledge.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to evaluate residents' and practicing physicians' medical knowledge of child abuse and maltreatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a freestanding pediatric hospital and community hospital, a 30-question survey was administered to pediatric residents, general pediatricians (GPs), and pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians. The institution's child protection team developed the questions, which were pilot tested for validity. Question content covered major concepts in child abuse and neglect. Information on previous training of child abuse was also collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 95 respondents, 64.2% (n = 61) were residents, 19% (n = 18) were GPs, and 16.8% (n = 16) were PEM physicians. Overall, the average score was 63.3% (SD, 13.8%). There was a statistically significant difference in the knowledge of child abuse and neglect across physician categories (P < 0.001). Pediatric emergency medicine physicians scored the highest (76.9 [SD, 9.1]) compared with GPs (66.7 [SD, 12.4]; P = 0.018) and pediatric residents (60.4 [SD, 12.9]; P < 0.001). There was no difference in the level of knowledge across residency training years (P = 0.076).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With a mean score in our study of 63.3%, there appears to be an overall lack of knowledge in child abuse. These findings highlight the need for increased education in child maltreatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, USA. bbulloch@phoenixchildrens.com
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Menoch
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garcia-Filion
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bulloch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*