Child physical abuse in Bahrain: a 10-year study, 2000-2009.

To improve the understanding of child physical abuse, assess its magnitude, and identify the presentations and the characteristics of the victims, their families and the offenders, we carried out a retrospective review of 237 child physical abuse cases evaluated over 10 years (2000-2009) in a tertiary hospital in Bahrain. Mean age of the children was 7 years, 58% were males. The annual number of reported cases increased from 11 in 2000 to 54 in 2009. Skin manifestations were seen in 59.0%, fractures in 10.5% and head injuries in 9.7%. The perpetrators were adults (89%), males (64%) and known to the child (98%). Referral to law enforcement was made in 48% of the cases. About 10% of the children were removed from the abusive environment. The increase in reported cases of child physical abuse calls for strengthening of child protection services.