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Citation
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Varol F, Sahin E, Ozgunay B, Cengiz M, Altas ZM, Guven S. Pediatr. Int. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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Background Due to the increase of abuse and neglect cases in recent years, the purpose of this study was the assessment child abuse and neglect patients hospitalized and followed up in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
METHODS A total of 34 abuse and neglect patients who were admitted to the PICU from August 2020 to March 2021 were retrospectively included in the study. The data of patient's clinical and demographic characteristics were obtained from our hospital's patient record system (HIS). Also comorbidities and mental status of the patients, affected systems, treatments, and outcomes were extracted.
RESULTS In this study,44.1 % (n: 15) of the patients were male and 55.9 % (n: 19) were female. Physical neglect such as foreign body aspiration, malnutrition, electrocution, drowning, traffic accident, and body collision was detected in 14 (41.2%) patients. Emotional neglect (taking drugs, alcohol, or suicide) was found in 19 (55.9 %) of our patients. Only 1 (2.9 %) patient was presented with physical abuse.
CONCLUSION Perception of neglect displays variance among different cultures. Any infant or child who was admitted to the PICU with a history that is not consistent, a history of delay in seeking medical attention, a previous history of abuse or suspected abuse, or the absence of the primary caretaker at the appearance of illness should signal possible abuse. Therefore, health care professionals should give more attention to these patients to prevent the overlooking and recurrence of the neglect and abuse cases during the intense work tempo in PICU.
Language: en |