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AOJPCH |
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INAUGURAL ISSUE : Volume One - JUNE 2002 -Number ONE |
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PATTERNS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT AS SEEN AT
HOSPITAL KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA Mohd Sham Kasim, MBBS, MRCP, FRCPE, FAMM Irene Cheah, MBBS, MRCP Summary Over a 2-year period from 1995 to 1996, a total of 431 cases of child abuse and neglect was seen at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur. They consisted of 234 cases of physical abuse, 98 cases of sexual abuse, 99 cases of physical neglect and other forms of abuse. The majority of cases of physical abuse were those considered as mild and these included those with bruising (112 cases), superficial lacerations (6 cases) and scars (25 cases). However, there were those with moderate and severe abuse as shown by presence of skull fractures(19), other fractures (18 cases), burns (8), cigarette burns(5) intracranial haemorrhages (55 cases), intraabdominal injuries (4) and others (4 cases). 14 children died because of the effects of the physical abuse. The majority of these deaths (9 cases) were due to intracranial haemorrhage. Among the 98 cases of sexual abuse, there was evidence of trauma over the external genitalia in 49 cases. There were sexually-transmitted diseases in 5 cases. 7 children, all males had been sodomised. 5 children were found to be pregnant leading to the charge of sexual abuse. Of those 99 children considered to have been neglected, 41 children were found to be physically neglected or were malnourished. 37 children were abandoned by their parents,18 after being born in the hospital. 9 babies showed signs of drug withdrawal after they were born due to their mothers’ addiction during pregnancy. The most frequent perpetrator of physical abuse was the natural father(70) , closely followed by the child-minder (63)and only then by the by the natural mother(40). However, among the 14 deaths caused by child abuse, the most frequent suspected abuser was the child minder (8) , then the father (1) and the mother (1).In the 4 other cases, suspicion on who was the abuser could not be pinpointed between the child-minder, the mother or the father. In case of sexual abuse, the most frequent abuser is the neighbour (19 cases),relative of the child-minder (15),the natural father (11 cases), then the relatives(11 cases ), and unknown(13 cases). Key words: child abuse and neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse deaths. Correspondence address: Prof Dr Mohd Sham Kasim, Division of Paediatrics, Department of Human Growth and Development, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Jalan Masjid, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, 50586 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
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Updated 15th August 2005 |
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© appassoc.org 2005
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