It has been noted in the literature that Osteogenesis Imperfecta is frequently mistaken for non-accidental injury. This article serves to illustrate the difficulty in differentiating between the two conditions and that they can occur concomitantly in one patient.
Child abuse is a worldwide problem. The four major types of abuse include physical abuse, child neglect, psychological maltreatment and sexual violence. We describe a fatal case of child abuse which presented with numerous old and recent soft tissue injuries all over the body. The injuries on the legs have immobilized the victim for quite some time, giving rise to deep vein thrombosis, leading to death as a result of acute pulmonary thromboembolism. This case demonstrates presence of both elements of abuse and neglect in one victim. As this category of crime involves a helpless child, we would also like to reiterate that the community has an obligation to prevent such tragedies and educating the public to recognize the signs and symptoms of abuse would be of utmost important. Ultimately, the community must also be responsible for reporting such offences and the act of silence is akin to condoning a crime witnessed.
The Teacher Reporting Attitude Scale (TRAS) is a newly developed tool to assess teachers' attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. This article reports on an investigation of the factor structure and psychometric properties of the short form Malay version of the TRAS. A self-report cross-sectional survey was conducted with 667 teachers in 14 randomly selected schools in Selangor state, Malaysia. Analyses were conducted in a 3-stage process using both confirmatory (stages 1 and 3) and exploratory factor analyses (stage 2) to test, modify, and confirm the underlying factor structure of the TRAS in a non-Western teacher sample. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support a 3-factor model previously reported in the original TRAS study. Exploratory factor analysis revealed an 8-item, 4-factor structure. Further confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated appropriateness of the 4-factor structure. Reliability estimates for the four factors-commitment, value, concern, and confidence-were moderate. The modified short form TRAS (Malay version) has potential to be used as a simple tool for relatively quick assessment of teachers' attitudes toward reporting child abuse and neglect. Cross-cultural differences in attitudes toward reporting may exist and the transferability of newly developed instruments to other populations should be evaluated.