Tehreem Fatima, Hira Fatima, Faiza Ather, Rizwan Farooq, Altaf Qadir Khan, Zahid Qutab.
The perception of consultants and the post-graduation residents about the barriers to the reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and negligence.
Pak Postgrad Med J Jan ;34(3):158-61.

Background: Childhood is a dynamic stage of life and experiences endured by the child during this stage can have everlasting effects on one`s life. Statistically significant associations were observed between physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect and depressive disorders. Objective: To determine the perception of consultants and post-graduation residents regarding barriers to the reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and negligence. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was carried out ona population of 108 doctors including consultants and post-graduation residents of various specialties and clinical experience in the wards of various specialties at two teaching hospitals of Lahore. A questionnaire consisting of two components demographics and second component based on variables studied by another research on child abuse in Turkey which was administered in a pilot study done in Lahore General Hospital, and validated; was then applied to a population of 108 doctors including consultants and post-graduation residents of various specialties and clinical experience at two teaching hospitals of Lahore. All the data was entered and analysed by using SPSS V-20. Effect modifiers like age, gender, qualification and duration of training was controlled by stratification and post-stratification chi-square test was applied. P-value <= 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: "Lack of knowledge about the process of reporting" was the most frequent variable reported as a barrier by 80.6% of the doctors studied among whom 25% were consultants and 55.6% were residents with a p-value of 0.00027. "Difficulties that might be faced during legal process" was the second most frequently reported barrier by 77.8% (30.6% of consultants and 47.2% of residents) of the doctors studied. Conclusion: The deficiency of guidelines on the process of reporting is considered by the doctors studied as the most frequent barrier to the reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and negligence.

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