How useful was a paediatric physical abuse screening project in a rural Australian emergency department?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Children with non-accidental injuries have increased risk of future death. There is insufficient evidence for widespread physical abuse screening tool use in the ED. This study assesses the utility of a physical abuse project that includes the implementation of a screening tool with case-matching from multiple sources. It aims to confirm whether risk-screening in a medium-sized rural Australian ED is reliable and will improve outcomes.

Methods

This is a 16-month ED retrospective pre-/post-implementation study of all injury, burn or poisoning cases 16 years and under during a paediatric physical abuse safety project which included a screening tool. Presentations with potential physical abuse were filtered by ICD-10 codes and reviewed. Multivariable logistic regressi

SUBMITTER: van Bockxmeer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11782729 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature