ORIGINAL / ORIGINAL ARTICLE / ORIGINALE Violence profile in children 0-9 years of age treated in a public hospital

Objective: To trace the epidemiological profile of notified cases involving child victims of violence in a public hospital of Teresina from 2009 to 2011. Methods: Retrospective study from the data of violence against children registered in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases ( SINAN). Enrolled 366 individual chips notification involving children 0-9 years old. Results: It was found that most cases occur in children aged 1-3 years (56.3%) and males (58.5%). Regarding the type of violence was observed more frequently neglect / abandonment (76.5%), with 65.6% of cases occurring in the victim's residence and taking her mother as the main aggressor (45.1%). Children died in 2.2% of reported cases. Conclusion: that child abuse is prevalent in the family environment and thus becomes a much more complex problem because the family that should take care and enabling conditions for survival and quality of life is precisely the one that participates or coparticipate in acts of violence against children.