Abstract

Background & Aims: The aim of this overview to provide a summary overview of physical child abuse prevalence, its and its risk factors in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A searching strategy for the included Studies were gathered by reviewing published articles from 1991 to 2020, in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases reporting the prevalence of Physical child abuse and Its risk factors in Saudi Arabia. Out of the total of 131 Articles that were searched 79 articles were excluded follows the article’s title screening, out of 52 articles 37 excluded by abstract reading, out of 22 articles read as full text only 15 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria of the review. The data extraction from the review articles was done based on a selection form. The form has been used to summarize evidence of included studies, it includes the following categories: title, design of the study, demographic data, study population, year of publication, and conclusion.

Results: Most studies of child abuse have been published in Saudi Arabia were cross-sectional studies and case reports which consider the low level of evidence studies based on the hierarchy of research evidence, physical child abuse was the most prevalent reported form of child abuse its prevalence estimated to be 47 %. The significant risk factors associated with physical child abuse were parents’ history of physical abuse during their childhood, young age parent, witness to domestic violence within family members, parents with poor self-control, and Parents who did not own a house compared to parents who live in a rented house.

Conclusion: Physical child abuse is the most commonly reported form of child abuse in Saudi Arabia, it has a high prevalence. Its risk factors are complex. However, many of these risk factors can be identified early. It is doable to initiate prevention programs, such as screening and counselling for parents of at-risk children and it can be implemented in all hospital service setting especially emergency department and primary health care.

Key words: Child abuse, physical abuse, risk factors, Saudi Arabia