Sociodemographic characteristics of sexually abused children: about 150 cases.

Introduction: Sexual assault is a public health problem worldwide that can be seen both in adult and in child. Objectives: This study aims to determinate the sociodemographic profile of child victims of sexual abuse. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Mongi Slim Hospital (Tunisia). We included all cases of patients followed for sexual abuse from January 2013 until June 2019. Data was collected from patients' records. Results: A total of 150 cases was collected with a sex ratio of 0.66. The age ranged from 2 to 18 years old with a mean age of 9.4 years. Concerning the order among their siblings: 31% of our patients were the first, 17% the second, 33% were the youngest and 12% were the only child in their families. Twenty percent of victims lives with parents having conflictual relationship Only 6% of the victims had a mental disability. We find that 28% had scholar difficulties and 17% had excellent results. Concerning familiar characteristics, parents were married in 76%, separated in 12%, and divorced in 12%. 37% of their parents suffer of chronic disease. The familial socioeconomic level was low in 24,66 %. Conclusions: A better knowledge of the sociodemographic profile of the sexual abused children will allow us to have a better psychiatric care in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]