Peer-reviewed article
Impact of child-protection law on child maltreatment reporting: A comparison of pre- and postlaw data from a hospital registry.
Almuneef MA, Aljaber A, Althunayan F, Abalkhail A, Alanazi A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared child maltreatment reporting patterns in a Saudi Arabian hospital before and after the implementation of the Saudi Child Protection Law. Hospital registry data from 2000-2008 (prelaw period) were compared with data from 2014-2022 (postlaw period). Following the law's implementation, reported child maltreatment cases increased dramatically, from an average of 6 cases per year to over 200 cases in 2022. The most common type of maltreatment was neglect, followed by physical abuse, and child fatality rates also decreased significantly.
Key points
- Reported child maltreatment cases increased 7-fold between the prelaw period (6 cases/year average) and postlaw period (200+ cases in 2022)
- Neglect was the most prevalent form of maltreatment at 58.3%, followed by physical abuse at 27.8%, emotional abuse at 8.4%, and sexual abuse at 5.5%
- Of 878 confirmed maltreatment cases postlaw, parents were identified as perpetrators in 77.9% of cases
- Case fatality rate decreased from 8.3% in the prelaw period to 3.2% in the postlaw period
- Neglect reports increased by 89.2% and physical abuse by 38.9% postlaw, while sexual abuse reports decreased by 14.3%
Limitations
The study is based on a single hospital's registry and may not be representative of national patterns. The prelaw and postlaw comparison periods differ significantly in length and timing, making direct temporal comparisons difficult.
Abstract
Background Child maltreatment (CM) is a global public health problem that affects countries at variable rates. Many factors can reduce this problem, but the existence of national law is an essential factor. The objective of the study was to compare reporting patterns of CM after the implementation of the Saudi Child Protection Law to the prelaw period. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study retrospectively reviewed the cases of CM cases reported in the registry of King Abdullah Specialized Children Hospital, a governmental tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The registry data from 2014 to 2022 were compared with CM cases evaluated at the same institution from 2000 to 2008, prior to the implementation of the child protection law. Results From 2014 to 2022, 1370 patients were referred to the child protection team; of these, 878 (64.1%) patients were confirmed as CM and entered into the CM registry. For 878 confirmed cases of CM, the issue was that of neglect (58.3%), followed by physical abuse (27.8%), emotional abuse (8.4%), and sexual abuse (5.5%). Most prevalent finding in physical abuse cases was bruises (26.2%) followed by fractures (16.0%). Parents were identified as the perpetrators in 77.9% cases of CM. Comparing the current data to the prelaw data, the reported CM cases increased from 6 cases per year in 2000 to over 200 cases in 2022, with a 7-fold increase in the reporting rate between the two periods. The reports of neglect increased by 89.2%, physical abuse increased by 38.9%, and sexual abuse decreased by 14.3%. Case fatality rate decreased from 8.3% to 3.2%. Conclusion The implementation of the child protection law led to an increase in CM reporting. Data from the registry will enable decision makers to analyze types, trends, and magnitude of CM, and provide a foundation for the development of effective prevention programs.