Suspected child abuse and neglect cases in a single tertiary hospital in Malaysia - a 5-year retrospective study
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
;
: 548-554, 2020.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-829890
ABSTRACT
@#Background:
Published reports by the Social Welfare Department of Malaysia suggests that child abuse and neglect cases has been steadily increasing. There is a lack of basic data and qualitative study on child maltreatment in Malaysia.Objective:
The aim is to describe the pattern and demographic features of all suspected child abuse and neglect (SCAN) cases seen in a single tertiary hospital in Malaysia over a period of five years.Methods:
A retrospective descriptive review of children suspected of maltreatment, aged 0 to 18 years old who presented to the Hospital Serdang (HS), Selangor, Malaysia from January 2014 to December 2018 was done. A list of registered SCAN cases obtained from One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) HS census. Clinical information of patients was retrieved from the computerised database.Results:
In all, there were a total of 391 SCAN cases over five years with almost a 3-fold increase in the number of cases from 2014 to 2018. Physical abuse was the most common (55%) seen followed by sexual abuse (34%) and neglect (10%). There were four deaths, all involving infants <1 year old who were physically abused by babysitters. The main perpetrator in sexual abuse were people known to the victim. Ninety-three percent of patients were neglected by their biological parents and more than 2/3rd of neglect cases occurred due to inadequate supervision.Discussion:
Child maltreatment is an inevitable burden to our health system and infants are the most vulnerable group to sustain significant injuries leading to death and disabilities.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
Year:
2020
Type:
Article
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