Introduction: Designing a tool that can differentiate those at risk of child abuse with great diagnostic accuracy is of great interest. The present study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Escape instrument in triage of at risk cases of child abuse presenting to emergency department (ED).

Method: The present diagnostic accuracy study performed on 6120 of the children under 16 years old presented to ED during 3 years, using convenience sampling. Confirmation by the child abuse team (pediatrician, a social worker, and a forensic physician) was considered as the gold standard. Screening performance characteristics of Escape were calculated using STATA 21.

Results: 6120 children with the mean age of 2.19 ± 1.12 years were screened (52.7% girls). 137 children were suspected victims of child abuse. Based on child abuse team opinion, 35 (0.5%) children were confirmed victims of child abuse. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio and positive and negative predictive values of this test with 95% CI were 100 (87.6 - 100), 98.3 (97.9 - 98.6), 25.5 (18.6 - 33.8), 100 (99.9 - 100), 0.34 (0.25 - 0.46), and 0 (0 - NAN), respectively. Area under the ROC curve was 99.2 (98.9 - 99.4).

Conclusion: It seems that Escape is a suitable screening instrument for detection of at risk cases of child abuse presenting to ED. Based on the results of the present study, the accuracy of this screening tool is 99.2%, which is in the excellent range.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5325929PMC

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

child abuse
32
diagnostic accuracy
16
abuse
8
emergency department
8
accuracy study
8
risk cases
8
cases child
8
abuse presenting
8
6120 children
8
abuse team
8

Similar Publications

Background: Child maltreatment is a global issue that significantly impacts children's lives. In 2018, 32% of 15-year-olds in Albania reported experiencing physical abuse.

Aim: To assess the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of child abuse and neglect in Albania.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Based on the presenting injury, patients undergoing abuse evaluation may be managed by different specialties. Our local child abuse specialist expressed concern over the variability in evaluation of patients presenting with injuries concerning for non-accidental trauma (NAT). The aim of this quality improvement project was to increase the percentage of patients for whom there is a concern for NAT who receive a guideline-adherent evaluation from 7.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adverse childhood experiences and adult alcohol use during pregnancy - 41 U.S. jurisdictions, 2019-2023.

Prev Med

January 2025

Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. Alcohol use during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and a range of lifelong behavioral, intellectual, and physical disabilities in the child. Limited research has examined the relationship between ACEs and alcohol use in pregnancy; available studies might not reflect current trends in this relationship.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

More than 60 percent of US adults report that they had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). For this study of 930,000 children born during the period 1999-2003, we used linked administrative, survey, and criminal justice data to measure the association between ACEs (parental death; separation; incarceration; or criminal charge for intimate partner violence, substance use disorder, or child sexual or nonsexual abuse) and socioeconomic disadvantages at ages 18-22 during 2017-21. After childhood socioeconomic status was controlled for, young adults with ACEs were more likely to have been charged with felonies, have become teenage parents, live in a household with poverty or housing assistance, be enrolled in Medicaid, and be employed, and were less likely to be enrolled in an educational institution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Self-Diagnosed Cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder on Social Media: Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment.

Harv Rev Psychiatry

January 2025

From School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales (Dr. Salter); Department of Psychology, Towson University (Dr. Brand); Harvard Medical School (Dr. Robinson); School of Medicine, University of Maryland (Dr. Loewenstein); The Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence, Towson, MD (Dr. Silberg); Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University (Dr. Korzekwa).

Recent global popularity of social media content about dissociative identity disorder (DID) has coincided with increased self-diagnosis among children and young people who have formed large online communities and presented in clinical settings seeking to affirm their self-diagnoses. We situate this phenomenon within a broader trend toward self-diagnosis due to the widespread visibility and accessibility of mental health content on social media. Social media propelled self-diagnosis raises particular questions for the study and treatment of DID due to long-standing debates over whether the condition is traumagenic, sociogenic, or iatrogenic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!