Characteristics of Child Abuse Cases Referred to a Hospital-Based Child Protection Teams in Korea and the Role of Psychiatric Intervention

Abstract

Purpose: Child protection teams (CPTs) have been implemented in hospital settings to effectively intervene in cases of child abuse. We investigated the changes in child abuse reporting rates and examined whether there was an increase in follow-up psychiatric outpatient visits. Furthermore, we aimed to identify the characteristics of children referred to CPTs and the factors that significantly influenced psychiatric outpatient visits.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of patients under 18 years old who were referred to the CPT from 2014 to 2021. We examined the demographic and clinical characteristics of the abused children, reporting rates, and linkage to psychiatric outpatient visits.

Results: This study included 108 child abuse cases. The average age was 7.3 years, with the highest incidence among adolescents (40.7%) and infants & toddlers (39.8%). Physical abuse was the most common abuse type (75.9%). In the infant & toddler group, the injuries resulting from abuse were more severe compared to other groups. There was a significant increase in both the number of child abuse interventions and reports to the National Child Protection Agency (p<0.01). However, psychiatric outpatient visits did not increase proportionally. Psychiatric intervention within the CPT was a significant predictor of subsequent psychiatric outpatient visits (odds ratio=17.985, p=0.006).

Conclusion: CPTs have enhanced the reporting and management of child abuse cases in Korean hospitals. Psychiatric intervention within CPT plays a crucial role for subsequent psychiatric outpatient visits. Since the infant and toddler group is more vulnerable to severe injuries, psychiatric intervention within the CPT should be conducted for all age groups.