Introduction:

Child abuse is defined by the World Health Organization as all abuse and neglect suffered by children and adolescents. Although in Colombia there are general reports on child victims of abuse, there are few studies on the frequency, types, and characteristics at the departmental or municipal level, important information to focus collective and individual health actions.

Objective:

To carry out a sociodemographic, clinical characterization and according to the type of abuse in a population of children under 18 years of age with a history of child abuse, attended between 2011 and 2016, at the Bolivariana University Clinic of Medellin, Colombia.

Materials and methods:

Descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study, carried out in the period from January 2011 to December 2016. Secondary sources of information such as clinical history was used. A sample of 29 children under 18 years of age was selected after applying eligibility criteria.

Results:

The female sex and the maternal single-parent family type were the most frequent. Sexual abuse was the most common type of abuse, followed by physical and psychological abuse, with different distributions according to sex.

Discussion:

The health characteristics of victims of child abuse vary, but apparently the sex and age of the victim are characteristics that influence the type of abuse.

Conclusions:

An approach was made from a medical perspective, regarding the complexity of a problem of intersectoral origin and scope that encompasses different forms, which vary by social, family and aggressor conditions. MED.UIS.202i;34(3): 19-27.

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