OBJECTIVETo explore the status of child neglect among urban areas children and adolescents aged 3 - 17 years in China.

METHODSUsing multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method, 8001 children and adolescents were recruited from 30 cities of 14 provinces in December 2008. The investigation was carried based on The 3 - 6 years old children Neglect Norms of city in China and The 6 - 17 years old children Neglect Norms of city in China. SPSS 13.0 was employed for analyzing neglect rate and degree for group of areas, age, sex and neglect type (including neglect of physical, emotional, educational, medical, safety and social).

RESULTSThe degrees of child neglect for urban children aged 3 - 6 (children aged 6 were not in school), 6 - 8 (children aged 6 were school children), 9 - 11, 12 - 14 and 15 - 17 were 42.2 ± 6.9, 42.8 ± 8.4, 42.1 ± 9.1, 46.4 ± 9.2 and 49.7 ± 8.4(P < 0.05), the neglect rates were 28.0% (326/1163), 28.8% (431/1496), 27.2% (543/1962), 22.4% (373/1664) and 32.8% (563/1716) (P < 0.05), respectively. There were differences in six neglect types for each group; the neglect degrees and rates were high in the group aged 12 - 14 and 15 - 17 (46.4 ± 9.2 and 49.1 ± 8.4, 22.4% (373/1664) and 32.8% (563/1716), respectively); for each neglect type, the neglect degree of children aged 15 - 17 were highest (52.8 ± 8.0, 47.3 ± 11.6, 49.5 ± 10.8, 42.4 ± 10.3, 52.2 ± 16.0, 56.0 ± 10.1). The degree and rate of neglect in West were highest, Middle was next, the East was lowest (the neglect degrees were 45.4 ± 9.1, 45.0 ± 9.3 and 44.0 ± 8.8, P < 0.05;the rates were 30.7% (1340/4361), 25.0% (756/3024) and 21.2% (131/616), P < 0.05). Degree and rate of child neglect for children without siblings were lower than children with siblings (the neglect degrees were 44.2 ± 9.0 and 47.6 ± 9.1, P < 0.01; the rates were 26.1% (1572/6017) and 33.0% (655/1984), P < 0.01). Neglect degree of school children aged 6 years old (43.1 ± 7.3) was higher than children not in school (40.7 ± 7.8) (P < 0.01), but neglect rate was lower (the rates were 35.4% (60/169) and 21.3% (84/394), P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONNeglect degree and rate of urban children and adolescents aged 3 - 17 years in China were both high, and neglect deserved more attentions.