Child Abuse and Neglect Flashcards
Child abuse is broadly defined as what?
serious injury inflicted upon a child by a parent or caretaker
Major Types of Child Abuse
4
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Child neglect
Perpetrators for Child abuse?
3
- Biological parents—81%
- Nonbiological parents and parent partners—12%
- Other adult—7%
Risk factors?
4
- Young or single parents
- Those w/ lower levels of education
- Many abusers were abused themselves as children
- Many suffer from drugs/alcohol addiction and/or psychiatric illness
Environmental factors?
4
- Stress factors within the family– either acute or chronic
- Social isolation
- Distant or absent extended family
- Acceptability of violence as a means of problem solving
Certain children are more likely to be victims then others:
5
- Age (67% less than 1YO) (80% less than 3YO)
- Past h/o abuse: abused child 50% chance of experiencing further abuse and 10% chance of dying
- Children w/ speech/language disorders, learning disabilities, non-conduct psych problems
- Children w/ handicaps, chronic illness
- Hyperactive, adopted and step-children
What is the most prevelent form of child abuse?
Most prevalent form of child abuse (> ½ cases)
“failure to provide for a child’s basic physical, emotional, educational, or medical needs”
What are the types of child neglect?
4
- Physical neglect
- Emotional neglect
- Educational neglect
- Medical neglect
In cases of medical neglect, what could we do?
3
- Simplify care as much as possible
- Give written instructions
- Remove barriers to access
When should we hospitalize in cases of medical neglect?
3
- For serious medical conditions
- To protect the child
- To observe parent-child interaction
Clinical Manifestations:
Orofacial injuries (face is the area most commonly injured)?
7
- Intraoral injuries
- Burns
- Fractures of the maxilla, mandible or facial bones
- Oropharyngeal gonorrhea or syphilis
- Black eyes or basilar skull fracture
- Bruising or scarring corners of the mouth from being gagged
- Traumatic alopecia
What is the most common type of injury in abused children?
Bruises
Describe the common types of bruising with child abuse?
5
- Noninflicted bruising tends to be over bony prominences/central bruising suggests abuse***
- Bruising in babies who are not mobile is uncommon
- Multiple bruises in clusters are consistent w/ inflicted injury
- Bruises in the pattern of an implement suggest inflicted injury (shape of handprint, belt, rope loop)
- Ligature marks or rope burns are seen on the neck, wrists and ankles
Differential Diagnosis of Bruises
3
- Bleeding disorders:
- Salicylate ingestion: look for other symptoms
- –Henoch-Schonlein purpura/other vasculitides - Mongolian spots
What would make us suspect bleeding disorder instead of child abuse? 2
- Bruises uniform in color
- - Inflicted bruises have different colors - Check clotting studies, CBC w/ platelets, PT,PTT
What can bite marks on the child be associated with?
can be associated w/ physical or sexual abuse or both
What kinds of burns are chacrteristic of child abuse?
5
- Brands/contact burns
- Cigarette burns
- Immersion burns—usually seen on legs & buttocks
- Microwave oven burns
- Stun gun burns