Pattern of Abuse in Children With Behavioral Disorders Presenting to the Tertiary Care Hospital, Peshawar

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the different types of child abuse and its association with behavioral disorders in children presenting to a tertiary care hospital.Materials and methodsOne hundred abused Pakistani children, of both genders, were included. Children with cerebral palsy, a neurodegenerative disorder, chronic illness, chronic liver disease, congenital heart disease, chronic renal failure, and parents who refused to become part of the study were excluded. Descriptive statistics were calculated. The chi-square test was applied to compare the pattern of abuse among various types of behavioral disorders. P≤0.05 was considered significant.ResultsThe mean age of the study was 10.38±2.64 years. The total number of males was 51 (51%); the rest (49; 49%) were females. The most common behavioral disorder was functional disorder (n=59, 59%) followed by depression (n=26, 26%). The most frequent abuse was physical (n=87, 87%) followed by verbal (n=7, 7%) and the least was sexual (n=6, 6%). There was no statistically significant association between type of behavioral disorder and type of abuse in children (P=0.162).ConclusionThe most common type of child abuse among children with behavioral disorders is physical abuse followed by verbal. The type of behavioral disorder is not associated with a specific type of child abuse.