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

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.