Family violence and the notification processes according to the viewpoint of a public health professional

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the perception and knowledge of health professionals on domestic violence and the compulsory notification process. Methods: Cross-sectional, exploratory, quantitative and qualitative study of 84 health professionals from the public health service in two municipalities of Sao Paulo, Brazil. For data collection, we used an open and closed question survey. The statistical analysis used the Pearson’s chi-square test for association analysis of quantitative variables. Results: The analysis of the responses yielded that 53.57% of respondents have witnessed some form of violence in their workplace, being children, women and elderly the main victims. When they were asked whether they should do something about violence, 78.31% agreed; however, in relation to what should be done, 31% could not answer and just 7% cited the notification. Significant associations were found between length of working time in public service and the following variables: the legal knowledge in violence cases (p= 0.0083), the notifying act (p= 0.0356) and the compulsory notification form (p= 0.0030). Conclusions: Health professionals face difficulties in diagnosing violence cases, as well as the performance of tasks required for the management of such problems as it happens with compulsory notification.