Peer-reviewed article
Factors that inhibit reporting of child maltreatment among dental health personnel - a scoping review.
Hokstad E, Virtej A, Brattabø IV ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examined barriers that prevent dental health workers from reporting suspected child maltreatment to authorities. The review of 34 studies found that diagnostic uncertainty, lack of knowledge, and fear of consequences are the main factors inhibiting reporting. Despite obligations to report, dental personnel consistently fail to report suspected cases at high rates. Education and training programs showed promise in improving reporting, but overall reporting rates remain low.
Key points
- Diagnostic uncertainty, lack of knowledge, and fear of consequences are the primary barriers to reporting child maltreatment among dental health personnel
- Prevalence of failure to report suspected cases of child maltreatment was consistently high across reviewed studies
- Targeted education and training programs were shown to improve reporting behaviors
- Overall reporting rates remain low despite obligations to report to child welfare services
- Underreporting delays critical intervention and allows maltreatment to continue
Limitations
The scoping review does not evaluate a specific intervention with a control group, so it cannot establish causal relationships or measure intervention effectiveness quantitatively. The review's findings are limited to studies published from 2013 onwards and may not represent all geographic regions or all barriers to reporting.
Abstract
Background Child maltreatment impacts the social, physiological, and psychological well-being of affected children, resulting in both short- and long-term consequences. Despite the obligation of dental health personnel to report suspected cases to child welfare services (CWS) or other appropriate authorities, various barriers hinder reporting, leading to underreporting. This scoping review aims to explore the factors that inhibit reporting of child maltreatment among dental health personnel by addressing the following research questions: 1. Which factors inhibit reporting of child maltreatment among dental health personnel? 2. To what degree do dental health personnel fail to report suspected cases of child maltreatment to CWS? Methods A scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Studies were retrieved by performing systematic searches of PubMed, Embase (Ovid), SveMed+, Idunn and The Norwegian Dental Journal (Den norske tannlegeforenings Tidende) for articles published from 2013 to October 2024. Results Of 303 identified articles, 34 were included in this review. Identified barriers to reporting child maltreatment among dental health personnel included diagnostic uncertainty, lack of knowledge, and fear of consequences. Targeted education and training programs were shown to improve reporting behaviors. However, overall reporting rates remain low, while the prevalence of failure to report suspected cases of child maltreatment was consistently high across the reviewed studies. These findings underscore the need for continued efforts to address the barriers to report. Conclusion This study highlights key barriers faced by dental health personnel in reporting child maltreatment, such as diagnostic uncertainty, lack of knowledge, and fear of consequences. Alarmingly, a significant portion of dental health personnel fail to report suspected cases, perpetuating underreporting. This failure not only delays critical intervention but also allows the maltreatment to continue, compounding harm to vulnerable children. Addressing these reporting barriers is imperative to ensure that dental health professionals are equipped to fulfill their safeguarding role effectively. Future research should focus on closing knowledge gaps, expanding geographical representation, and standardizing reporting protocols to create a more robust and responsive reporting system. Trial registration The project protocol for this review was preregistered on OSF, accessible via the following registration DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RBG2H .