Suspicion of child maltreatment: Knowledge and experiences with mandatory reports to social services among general practitioners in Denmark in 2019-20.

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment has many consequences through the lifespan. The general practitioners (GPs) are in longitudinal contact with the family and can play an important role in identifying children in danger and reporting to the social services.

OBJECTIVE: To explore how GPs manage suspicions of child maltreatment and to investigate potential demographic and geographic differences in reporting practices among Danish GPs.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: All registered GPs in Denmark retrieved from Medcom, a state-financed non-profit organization.

METHODS: We mailed a questionnaire to all registered GPs with demographics, experiences, knowledge, and attitudes in the context of child maltreatment.

RESULTS: We received 1252 completed questionnaires (response rate: 38 %). Most of the participants had suspected child maltreatment during their professional life (90 %) and had made a mandatory report (85 %). More than half had received feedback after the report (56 %) and said that their report led to action (56 %). Most GPs reported feeling confident in dealing with child maltreatment (79 %) and being willing to get involved in case of suspicion (8.9 on a 0-10 scale). We observed no geographical differences in reporting neither across the Danish regions nor among rural and urban practices, but GPs working in single practices made fewer reports to the social services.

CONCLUSIONS: Participant GPs in this study are aware of their role in child protection, have experiences with mandatory reports, and are willing to get involved. Possible areas for attention include collaboration and support between different settings, especially between GP practice, hospitals, justice sector, and social services.