Moulage Technique in Child Abuse Recognition

Summary

Early recognition of physical abuse in children is essential for ensuring child safety and preventing further harm. However, distinguishing abuse-related injuries from accidental findings can be challenging, especially for nursing students who have limited clinical experience. Simulation-based educational methods may provide safe and effective environments for developing these skills.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of moulage-based simulation training in improving nursing students' ability to recognize signs of physical abuse in children. The study will use a randomized controlled design in which students will be assigned to either a moulage-based simulation group or a control group receiving standard theoretical education.

After a lecture on child physical abuse within the Child Health and Pediatric Nursing course, students will participate in laboratory practice sessions. The intervention group will assess a pediatric mannequin prepared with simulated abuse findings using moulage techniques. Students' knowledge and recognition of physical abuse indicators will be evaluated before and after the intervention.

The study seeks to determine whether moulage-based education improves nursing students' recognition of physical abuse findings and supports the development of clinical assessment skills.

Conditions

• Nursing Education
• Simulation of Physical Illness
• Child Physical Abuse, Suspected, Sequela

Interventions

OTHER

Moulage Technique Group

Makeup (moulage) will be applied to a 3-5-year-old mannequin by an expert trained in moulage techniques. The application will be based on visual examples of physical abuse findings presented in the book "Physical Signs of Child Abuse" (Hobbs \& Wynne, 2001), which serves as an atlas commonly used in healthcare studies for identifying physical signs and lesions associated with child abuse. Students will then be asked to perform a "general physical assessment of the child" on the mannequin with the applied moulage injuries.

OTHER

movie group

Control group watches film clips showing physical abuse signs to support learning and discussion. A total of 30 minutes of selected clips from three films depicting physical abuse (Sleepers, Antwone Fisher, The Tale) will be shown. These clips include visual examples of physical abuse indicators, such as bruises, repeated injury marks (e.g., belt buckle marks, stick marks), and soft tissue injuries. The films will be shown only within the scope of the study and not as part of the course curriculum.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Atlas University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• sermin dinç, Dr. · Atlas University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-10

Primary Completion

2026-06-15

Completion

2026-06-30

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations