Conhecimento e atitude de acadêmicos de saúde da Universidade Federal da Paraíba Sobre Maus-Tratos Infantis

Abstract

Child abuse against children and teenagers represents a serious public health problem and can be defined as an action or omission committed by an individual or a group of individuals. The World Health Organization classifies child violence, in relation to its nature, in physical, psychological, sexual and negligence. The aim of this study was to verify the knowledge and the attitude of graduate students in heatlh area at Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) about mistreatment in childhood. It was a cross sectional, quantitative and descriptive study, with extensive direct observation. The sample was 68 students; 30 of Physical Education course, 28 of Physioterapy and 10 of Occupacional Therapy course, using a structured questionnaire, previously validated, with objective and subjective questions about the subject. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using the SPSS program, 20.0 version and presented in tables. The students ages ranged from 19 to 50, with a mean age of 24.1 (±4,5) years; 63.2% (n= 43) were female and 36.8% (n= 25) were male. Most of the students responded incompletely about the definition of child abuse (69.4%). For all the courses that were analyzed, physical violence was the most cited, followed by psychological, negligence and sexual violence. Dental carie was the most frequently mentioned oral sign of child mistreatment by students of Occupacional Therapy (60%) and Physical Education (50%) courses, while in Physioterapy course the most mentioned sign was the presence of oral ulcers (42,8%). Among body signs and symptoms, hematoma and/or edema were the most cited by students of all courses (80% for Occupacional Therapy and Physical Education and 85.7% for Physioterapy). Most of the students stated that in case of child abuse they would act through complaint, and the most known institution that protects children was Guardianship Council. The conclusion is that the knowledge of students in health area at UFPB about child abuse is reasonable and deepening is necessary in some issues.