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Profile of Children With Child Abuse From Serbia

Indian Pediatrics volume 59, pages 707–709 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

To study the demographic and clinical profile of children with suspected physical or sexual abuse.

Methods

Retrospective records of children who were admitted to hospital between January, 2015 to December, 2020 with suspected physical or sexual abuse were evaluated.

Results

The records of 52 children [mean (SD) age 12.24 (5.32) y, 39 boys] were retrieved. Contusions were the most common injury in 53.8% of boys and 69.2% of girls. The majority (70%) of 8–18 year-old-children were abused by peers, and parents/caregivers were the main perpetrators in 72.7% of younger children.

Conclusion

Child abuse is often underreported, and requires a high index of suspicion and multidisciplinary approach of management.

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Funding

Funding: None

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinics of Pediatric Surgery, University Clinical Center Nis, Nis Blv. dr Zorana Djinjica 48, 18 000, Nis, Serbia

    Maja Zecevic, Dragoljub Zivanovic, Tamara Adamovic & Zorica Jovanovic

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University Clinical Center Nis, Nis, Serbia

    Dragoljub Zivanovic, Dragana Lazarevic & Vesna Marjanovic

  3. Clinics of Pediatrics, University Clinical Center Nis, Nis, Serbia

    Dragana Lazarevic

  4. Clinics of Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, University Clinical Center Nis, Nis, Serbia

    Vesna Marjanovic & Jelena Lilic

Authors
  1. Maja Zecevic
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  2. Dragoljub Zivanovic
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  3. Tamara Adamovic
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  4. Dragana Lazarevic
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  5. Vesna Marjanovic
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  6. Zorica Jovanovic
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  7. Jelena Lilic
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Contributions

Contributors: Both authors were involved in all aspects of the study and manuscript preparation, and have approved the final version for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maja Zecevic.

Ethics declarations

Ethics clearance: Ethics committee of University Clinical Centre Nis; No. 14396/211, dated May 26, 2022.

Competing interests: None stated.

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Zecevic, M., Zivanovic, D., Adamovic, T. et al. Profile of Children With Child Abuse From Serbia. Indian Pediatr 59, 707–709 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-022-2599-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-022-2599-x

Keywords

  • Abuse
  • Brain injury
  • Contrusions
  • Sexual abuse
  • Abuse