Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Child Abuse Among Healthcare Workers in Al Dhahira, Oman: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Child abuse remains a significant public health challenge. Healthcare workers serve as critical frontline responders, yet gaps persist between legislative frameworks and implementation. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers in Al Dhahira regarding child abuse identification and reporting, identify barriers to consistent implementation, and examine factors associated with reporting behavior. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 150 healthcare workers at 18 primary healthcare centers in Al Dhahira was conducted in 2023 (sample size calculated as 148 for a population of 600, 95% confidence level). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 (Released 2017; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests (p<0.05). Results: The sample comprised 102 (68.0%) physicians, 38 (25.3%) nurses, and 10 (6.7%) allied health professionals. While 140 (93.3%) were aware of the Omani Child Law and 128 (85.3%) knew a child protection hotline exists, only 110 (73.3%) knew the correct hotline number; 91 of 128 (71.1%) among those aware. Although 138 (92.0%) believed suspected abuse should always be reported, only 110 (73.3%) consistently reported cases, revealing an 18.7-percentage-point attitude-practice gap. Major barriers included fear of legal consequences (44; 29.3%), clinical identification challenges (42; 28.0%), and lack of feedback (39; 26.0%). Previous child protection training was significantly associated with consistent reporting behavior: 73 of 89 (82.0%) trained workers consistently reported versus 37 of 61 (60.7%) untrained workers (p=0.001). Conclusions: Healthcare workers demonstrate good theoretical knowledge of child protection frameworks but face significant practical barriers to consistent implementation. Evidence-based interventions including professional development programs, clear legal protection communications, feedback mechanisms, and multi-professional reporting capacity warrant prospective evaluation to bridge the attitude-practice gap and ensure effective child protection implementation.