Síndrome de Munchausen por procuração na perspectiva dos profissionais de saúde

Abstract

The Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MPBS) is one of the most serious, yet relatively rare, forms of child abuse, where the caretaker of a child fakes or induces real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick. Consequently, the efforts for Healthcare Providers to diagnose and provide treatment for a nonexistent condition often lead to unnecessary and potentially harmful interventions to the child. It is therefore essential that Healthcare Providers have a high degree of clinical suspicion and awareness for possible signs and symptoms that do not fit into a specific illness, when these signs or symptoms resist treatment or when they escalate into other diseases. When making a diagnosis, the combination of the different clinical data on the child is of the essence, as it is also crucial a consistent communication among Healthcare Providers, as well as a multidisciplinary approach with the various entities of child protection and safeguarding, since the final diagnosis may be not only controversial, but also difficult and lead to legal or family consequences. In this sense, this study intends to look into the Healthcare Providers' approach, namely to understand which are the key factors in the diagnosis of a potential condition of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

Date of Award	21 Jul 2016
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Catarina Ribeiro (Supervisor)