Background: Child abuse is a worldwide health problem as well as an important forensic issue. Child abuse is a critical factor of child disability and child death. Aims:The goal of this study is to investigate the injury patterns of child abuse cases and non-child abuse cases in Taiwan in order to help the forensic examiners to differenciate the cases of child abuse. Materials and Methodes: The aotopsy reports of cases of child abuse homocides and non-child abuse homocides(< 18 year-old) of Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice from 2001 to 2010 were analyzed.The medical records of cases of child abuse and children with intended wound(< 18 year-old) of a medical center in Taipei were analyzed. The sites, the numbers, the sizes, and the types of the injuries were compared among the different groups of cases. Results: We recruited 110 child abuse autopsy cases.The average numbers of facial injuries (2.47) and the lower limbs injuries(2.03) are among the highest in the child abuse group, and are significantly higher than the average numbers of facial injury(1.58, p=0.027), and lower limbs injury(0.63, p<0.001) in non-child abuse groups. The average numbers of bruises(5.56) and burns(0.36) of the child abuse group are more than the bruise(2.10, p<0.001) and burns(0, p=0.006) of the non-child abuse group. The most common cause of death in the child abuse autopy group is intracramial hemorrhage(47.2%), followed by hemorrhagic shock(16.9%), which is similar to that of the non-child abuse group with 39.7% of intracramial hemorrhage, followed by 37.5% of hemorrhage shock. Conclusions: The average numbers of facial and lower limbs injuries of child abuse cases are more than those of the non-child abuse cases. The average numbers of bruises and burns of the child abuse group are more than of the non-child abuse group. This data will be helpful for forensic examiners and clinic healthcare providers.

資料來源:http://handle.ncl.edu.tw/11296/ndltd/51914310577955083990