Who's Watching the Children? Caregiver Features Associated with Physical Child Abuse versus Accidental Injury.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To compare caregiver features and caregiving arrangements of children with physical abuse vs accidental injuries.

Study design

Data came from a prospective, observational, multicenter study investigating bruising and psychosocial characteristics of children younger than 4 years of age. Using logistic regression, we examined how abuse vs accidental injury and severity of injury were associated with caregiver sex, relation to the child, whether caregiving arrangements were different than usual at the time of injury, and length of the main caregiver's relationship with his/her partner.

Results

Of 1615 patients, 24% were determined to have been physically abused. Abuse was more likely when a male caregiver was present (OR 3.31, 95% CI 2.38-4.62). When the male w

SUBMITTER: Fingarson AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707841 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature