Oral health professional intervention and child physical abuse—European legal approach

Abstract

Physical violence against children and adolescents is an issue of Global Public Health. This study aims to identify traumatic injuries and the medical–legal temporary framework of the victim’s profile in the European legal approach. Participants and Setting: The clinical reports of a Portuguese European Clinical Academic Center database were analyzed. An observational and prospective cohort study was performed. A descriptive analysis of the variables was conducted, considering gender, bimodal age groups, place of residence, offender data, place of occurrence, etiology, localization, type of injuries, personal injury assessment by Quantum doloris, and injury time. The statistical analysis was performed by Spearman’s rho and Kendall’s tau-b correlation tests, Pearson’s chi-square test of independence (χ2), and Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric tests (P < 0.05). The relationship between age groups and the place of occurrence was statistically significant (P = 0.001). Orofacial and nonorofacial injuries were related (P = 0.035). The General Data Protection Regulation is not a barrier to the treatment and sharing of justified data but a framework for safeguarding individuals’ fundamental rights, including the Right to Health. Meticulous reporting of the clinical situation involves the victim, the occurrence, and the potential offender.