Background Sexual abuse of children and adolescents is a significant health concern worldwide. Appropriate and timely health services for victims can prevent severe and long-term consequences. This study identified and categorized diagnostic and treatment services needed for sexually abused children and adolescents. Methods Several databases, including MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Google Scholar, were searched to retrieve studies on the topic and clinical guidelines in English covering the literature from 2010 to 2020 using search terms. Primary studies and guidelines were reviewed to identify treatment strategies and medical interventions related to sexually abused children and adolescents. Results Twenty-one studies and guidelines were selected and analyzed narratively. The quality of evidence was relatively good. We identified that effective health care systems for sexually abused children include the following: interview and obtain medical history, physical and anogenital examination, collecting forensic and DNA evidence, documenting all the findings, prevention and termination of pregnancy, diagnostic tests, prophylaxis for HIV and other STIs, vaccinations, and psychological intervention. Conclusions This review provides up-to-date evidence about adequate health care services for children and adolescent victims of sexual abuse. We conclude that recent studies have focused more on prophylaxis against HIV and other STIs, studies on vaccinating against HPV for victims are still limited, and future research in this area is needed.
Background: Failure to provide health services for complications of child and adolescent sexual abuse harms for health in survivors. Designing and executing a clinical guideline that provides evidence-based services for the survivor's problems based on their practical context is the best approach. Here, we purpose to develop and validate a clinical guideline for health care services for children and adolescents with sexual abuse in Iran.Methods: We will develop and validate a guideline in three phases by using an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach: (1) Conducting a systematic review on studies, resources, and guidelines on health care services for survivors worldwide and describing the diagnostic and treatment needs for survivors of sexual abuse in Iran and the health services they receive.(2) Developing a guideline on health care services for children and adolescents who survived sexual abuse in Iran based on the results of phase 1 and relevant comments from key informants by "nominal group technique" through multiple steps.(3) Validating the guideline and determination of the ‘User Agreement’ and key stakeholders about the applicability of this guideline by using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation Instrument.Discussion: Due to the limitations that exist in this area in Iran, a comprehensive, practical, and cultural-based guideline on providing diagnostic and treatment services for children and adolescents who survived sexual abuse will be developed. It is expected that this guideline can significantly prevent many short and long-term sexual abuse complications and improve the quality of life of survivors of sexual abuse by providing timely health care services.Registration and grant number: This project was approved by Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran with the ethics code of (IR.MODARES.REC.1398.230), and (Grant no. 1398-230).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.