Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Associated with Child Abuse Among the School Teachers in Malaysia
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Abstract
Introduction: Child abuse or non-accidental injuries (NAI) is a worldwide phenomenon. This study aimed to measure the levels of knowledge, attitude towards NAI, reporting practices and determine the associated factors for poor KAP among Malaysian school teachers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and February 2022. We utilised a Malay-validated Early Childhood Educators Child Abuse questionnaire (ECECAQ), which was generated in the form of a URL address and QR code. Subsequently, we shared the data via social media platforms with the respondents through convenient sampling methods. The questionnaire consisted of six parts pertaining to knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding child abuse with good alpha values. Results: There were 257 Malaysian school teachers, with a majority of the respondents being Malay (91.1%), women (73.9%) and married (86.4%). The median score for practice was 2 (IQR 4), and for knowledge was 2.5 (IQR 1). Simple logistic regression analysis showed that marriage, education, gender, and higher education level were significantly linked to poor knowledge and practice of child abuse (p-value < 0.05). Gender has a significant association with poor attitude and poor practice. Higher education levels and male gender were the negative predictors of poor knowledge. Conclusion: Poor knowledge, attitude, and practice among Malaysian school teachers were likely due to the lack of awareness, training, and education on the child abuse subject. Further awareness programmes are needed to fill in these gaps.
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