A validated Screening instrument for Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) at the emergency department.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study is to develop and validate a screening instrument for the recognition of child maltreatment in the emergency department (ED). Existing data on screening questions and outcomes (diagnosis of child maltreatment) from three large observational screening studies at eight different EDs in the Netherlands were harmonized. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to develop the Screening instrument for Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN).

[Screening for child abuse: what does it achieve?].

In the Netherlands, child abuse is a national problem and often not recognized in medical settings. As a consequence, it has become mandatory to use a screening instrument for child abuse at emergency departments and out-of-hours primary care services. Since the revised Reporting Code has come into force, there is renewed interest for a national approach on screening for child abuse.

[An integrated approach including paediatric and forensic medical expertise on suspicion of child abuse].

A false accusation of child abuse has a major impact on child and family. Conversely, a missed diagnosis of child abuse may have significant and lifelong consequences for the child. For health professionals the assessment of the nature of the injury and differentiating between accidental and inflicted injury, disease manifestation or a physiological phenomenon can be challenging.

A screening protocol for child abuse at out-of-hours primary care locations: a descriptive study.

Background: Child abuse is often unrecognized at out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC) services. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of the screening instrument SPUTOVAMO-R2 for child abuse (checklist), followed by a structured approach (reporting code), at OOH-PC services. The reporting code with five steps should ensure consistent action in case of a suspicion.