Characterization of maltreated children and adolescents taken into a paediatric emergency health care service in Fortaleza-CE-Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to characterise the profile of the child and the adolescent who were maltreated and taken into paediatric emergency care in a hospital, in Fortaleza, Ceará. It was used a documented retrospective evaluation. The results showed that the children in the age group of 1-5 years were the most victimised as well as the children of the male sex. The main perpetrator was a biological father and the most frequent kind of violence were hematomas, sexual abuse and wounds by slashing objects. In conclusion, this subject needs to be more investigated for providing changes within the' environment where a child, adolescent and families were inserted.