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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCJournal of Korean medical science

Discrepancy Between Clinical Suspicion and Legal Outcomes in Suspected Child Abuse: A 10-Year Single-Center Study.

  • Hye-Ri Jang1
  • Chloe Jooan Lee2
  • Ju Hyun Back3
  • Eun Young Kim3
  • Jaeso Cho1,4
  • Hunmin Kim1,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
  2. 2Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  3. 3Department of Medical Social Work, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
  4. 4Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. [email protected].
  5. 5Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
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Abstract

Despite mandatory reporting, many suspected child abuse cases never proceed to formal investigation in Korea. We retrospectively reviewed 83 pediatric patients evaluated for suspected child abuse at a tertiary hospital between 2015 and 2025, screened using the Finding Instrument for Non-accidental Deeds score, and analyzed clinical characteristics, injury severity, and investigative outcomes. The mean age was 4.3 years, and mechanical injury was the most common abuse type (n = 68). Twenty-four patients (28.9%) were severe cases requiring surgery or intensive care or resulting in death. Overall, 33 patients (39.8%) were determined as 'no suspicion,' including 11 of 24 severe cases (45.8%); this proportion decreased from 45.7% to 37.8% after the 2021 policy reform. A critical gap persists between medical recognition of child abuse and the legal response, warranting closer integration of clinical assessment with child protection and investigative systems.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{jang2026discrepancy,
  title = {{Discrepancy Between Clinical Suspicion and Legal Outcomes in Suspected Child Abuse: A 10-Year Single-Center Study.}},
  author = {Hye-Ri Jang and Chloe Jooan Lee and Ju Hyun Back and Eun Young Kim and Jaeso Cho and Hunmin Kim},
  journal = {Journal of Korean medical science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3346/jkms.2026.41.e338},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901498},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Discrepancy Between Clinical Suspicion and Legal Outcomes in Suspected Child Abuse: A 10-Year Single-Center Study.
AU  - Hye-Ri Jang
AU  - Chloe Jooan Lee
AU  - Ju Hyun Back
AU  - Eun Young Kim
AU  - Jaeso Cho
AU  - Hunmin Kim
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
JO  - Journal of Korean medical science
DO  - 10.3346/jkms.2026.41.e338
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901498
AB  - Despite mandatory reporting, many suspected child abuse cases never proceed to formal investigation in Korea. We retrospectively reviewed 83 pediatric patients evaluated for suspected child abuse at a tertiary hospital between 2015 and 2025, screened using the Finding Instrument for Non-accidental Deeds score, and analyzed clinical characteristics, injury severity, and investigative outcomes. The mean age was 4.3 years, and mechanical injury was the most common abuse type (n = 68). Twenty-four patients (28.9%) were severe cases requiring surgery or intensive care or resulting in death. Overall, 33 patients (39.8%) were determined as 'no suspicion,' including 11 of 24 severe cases (45.8%); this proportion decreased from 45.7% to 37.8% after the 2021 policy reform. A critical gap persists between medical recognition of child abuse and the legal response, warranting closer integration of clinical assessment with child protection and investigative systems.
SN  - 1598-6357
ER  -