Physical abuse of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alarming increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations during the lockdown period - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Child Abuse and Neglect Année : 2021

Physical abuse of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alarming increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations during the lockdown period

Résumé

Background: In France, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a general lockdown from mid-March to mid-May 2020, forcing families to remain confined. We hypothesized that children may have been victims of more physical abuse during the lockdown, involving an increase in the relative frequency of hospitalization. Methods: Using the national administrative database on all admissions to public and private hospitals (PMSI), we selected all children aged 0–5 years hospitalized and identified physically abused children based on ICD-10 codes. We included 844,227 children hospitalized in March–April 2017–2020, of whom 476 (0.056%) were admitted for physical abuse. Relative frequency of hospitalization for physical abuse observed in March to April 2020 were compared with those from the same months in the three previous years (2017–2019). Findings: Even if absolute number of children exposed to physical abuse did not fluctuate significantly, we found a significant increase in the relative frequency of young children hospitalized for physical abuse from 2017 (0.053%) to 2020 (0.073%). Compared with the 2017–2019 period, and considering the observed decrease in the number of overall hospital admissions during the first lockdown, the number of children exposed to physical violence was 40% superior to what would be expected. Interpretation: The sharp increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations for physical abuse in children aged 0–5 years in France is alarming. As only the most severe cases were brought to the hospital for treatment during the lockdown, our figures probably only represent the tip of the iceberg of a general increase of violence against young children.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
main.pdf (685.46 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte

Dates et versions

hal-03524614 , version 1 (01-06-2022)

Licence

Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification

Identifiants

Citer

Mélanie Loiseau, Jonathan Cottenet, Sonia Bechraoui-Quantin, Séverine Gilard-Pioc, Yann Mikaeloff, et al.. Physical abuse of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alarming increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations during the lockdown period. Child Abuse and Neglect, 2021, 122, ⟨10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105299⟩. ⟨hal-03524614⟩
30 Consultations
39 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More