Five-Year Review of Patients Presenting with Non-Accidental Injury to a Children’s Emergency Unit in Singapore

• Published in: Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore Vol. 47; no. 10; pp. 413 - 419
• Main Authors: Chew, Yi Rong, Cheng, Michaela HL, Goh, Mei Ching, Shen, Liang, Wong, Peter CY, Ganapathy, Sashikumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Age Factors; Child; Child Abuse - prevention & control; Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Female; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Injury Severity Score; Male; Mandatory Reporting; Needs Assessment; Physical Abuse - prevention & control; Physical Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Sex Factors; Singapore; Vulnerable Populations - statistics & numerical data; Wounds and Injuries - diagnosis; Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology; Singapore
• ISSN: 0304-4602; 2972-4066; 0304-4602; 2972-4066
• DOI: 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.V47N10p413

Introduction: There is an increasing trend of physical child abuse cases reported in Singapore. Children presenting to the Emergency Department with injuries require a high index of suspicion for clinicians to distinguish those that are abusive in nature. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of children with diagnosis of NAI presenting to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) from June 2011 to May 2016 was conducted. Results: There were 1917 cases reported from 1730 subjects, of  which: 8.8% of subjects had repeat visits; 55.2% of cases were male; and mean age was 7.69 years. Racial demographics were: Chinese 45.5%, Malay 33.4%, Indian 15.4% and Others 5.9%. The most frequent injuries sustained were head and neck (50.8%), limbs (32.2%), and chest (5.7%). Of the type of injuries, 55% had contusions, 21% had cane marks, 16% had lacerations, 4.4% had burn marks and 1% sustained fractures. Males were more likely to be caned (P <0.001); 54.9% of cases were admitted and 38.9% were discharged. Cases that presented without a parent (P <0.001), were known to Child Protective Service (P <0.001), or had a history of  parental substance abuse (P = 0.038), mental illness in caregiver (P = 0.021), or domestic violence (P <0.001) were more likely to require admission. Conclusion: Analysing these factors provide a better understanding of  the presentation of  NAI cases, including 'red flags' and vulnerable groups who should have better protection. Key words: Physical abuse, Presentation of child abuse, Risk factors of child abuse