This paper gives a detailed account of 30 cases of childhood deaths caused by physical abuse, detected by the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team, General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. They consisted of 12 Malays, 6 Chinese, 9 Indian, and 1 Indonesian child. Three cases could not be ascertained as to their ethnic origin. There were 13 male and 17 female children. The average age of the abused children was 2 years 5 months. The most frequent causes of death were intracranial hemorrhage and intraabdominal trauma. Of the 17 cases of intracranial hemorrhage, only four had X-ray evidence of skull fracture. This suggests the possibility of whiplash injuries with/without the abuser suspecting that he/she had injured the child. Of the 22 abusers who could be identified, there was no sex differentiation. Fathers formed the largest group of perpetrators, followed by mothers and childminders. Fifteen of the natural parents of the abused children were married, four were divorced and four were never married. Five of the abusers had aggressive personalities and three were drug addicts. Only one abuser was found to be an alcoholic even though a few were also under suspicion. For most cases, trigger factors could not be identified.
Available evidence has shown that the type of abuse perpetrated on children depends considerably on the social and other factors inherently faced by these children. A total of 119 cases of physical abuse was detected by the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Team of General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur in 1991. Eighty-two cases were categorized as mild and 37 as severe. The average age of those mildly abused was 7.9 years, for those severely abused the average age was 4.2 years. The perpetrators of those mildly abused were often their own parents. However, among those severely abused, the child-minder was the most frequent abuser. Ninety-two of all cases were in families of social classes IV and V. In 47 cases, there was definite evidence of family disharmony or disruption. Among the 37 severely abused, the parents were either divorced or separated in 14 cases. There was a personality disorder in seven of the cases. Six of the abusers were also using drugs and nine were alcoholics. This paper shows that, even in a developing country, the social milieu is important in the type of abuse inflicted.
Intracranial haemorrhage is a major cause of severe morbidity and mortality in child abuse cases in developed countries. However, similar data are not available in most developing countries. This study therefore aimed to determine the incidence of intracranial haemorrhage amongst all cases of child physical abuse, the nature of the injuries incurred, and the morbidity and mortality resulting therefrom. Among 369 cases of physical abuse seen over a 4-year period, 41 (11.4%) had intracranial haemorrhage, of whom 37 (90%) were 2 years old or less. A history of trauma was present in only eight (20%), of which only two were compatible with the injuries incurred. Subdural haemorrhages accounted for 80% of the cases, with skull fractures present in only nine cases. Fifty-four per cent of the 37 children aged 2 years of age or less had no external signs of trauma, but 11 of them had retinal haemorrhages. This is in contrast to the children older than 2 years of age who all had external signs of trauma. The overall prognosis was dismal with an early mortality of almost 30% (13 cases) and at least seven cases with severe neurological sequelae. These findings are comparable with studies from developed countries which have established that non-accidental injury must be considered as a cause of intracranial haemorrhage in any young child, despite the absence of external signs of trauma.