CHILDHOOD DEATHS FROM PHYSICAL ABUSE

This paper gives a detailed account of 30 cases of childhood deaths ca used by physical abuse, detected by the Suspected Child Abuse and Negl ect (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. They were 13 male and 1 7 female children. The average age of the abused children was 2 years 5 months. The most frequent causes of death were intracranial hemorrha ge and intraabdominal trauma. Of the 17 cases of intracranial hemorrha ge, only four had X-ray evidence of skull fracture. This suggests the possibility of whiplash injuries with/without the abuser suspecting th at he/she had injured the child. Of the 22 abusers who could be identi fied, there was no sex differentiation. Fathers formed the largest gro up of perpetrators, followed by mothers and childminders. Fifteen of t he natural parents of the abused children were married, four were divo rced and four were never married. Five of the abusers had aggressive p ersonalities 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.