Cohort analysis of child abuse and neglect cases treated during the initial 2 years of a programme to support hospital-based child protection work in Austria.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To describe characteristics of suspected child abuse and neglect (CAN) cases associated with the decision of paediatric departments (PDs) in Vienna, Austria, to involve services of a regional tertiary child protection service programme (Forensische Kinder- und JugendUntersuchungsStelle, FOKUS).

Design

Retrospective cohort analysis of a regional data collection of CAN cases over the first 2 years of FOKUS's operational period (1 July 2015-30 June 2017).

Setting

All CAN cases reported to the PDs of six public hospitals in Vienna. Five of these public hospitals were secondary heath care centres and one was a tertiary healthcare centre.

Results

Overall, 231 cases (59.1%) were treated without and 160 (40.9%) with additional involvement of the FOKUS service

SUBMITTER: Mora-Theuer EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10351272 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature