Pediatric emergency department visits due to child abuse and neglect following COVID-19 public health emergency declaration in the Southeastern United States
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC pediatrics
Abstract
Background: The ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has heightened several risk factors for child abuse and
neglect (CAN). We study whether COVID-19 and the public health response to it affected CAN-related pediatric
emergency department (ED) visits in the southeastern United States (US).
Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review on medical records of ED visits from a level I pediatric
hospital system serving one of the largest metropolitan areas in the southeastern US from January through June
2018–2020. We used multivariate Poisson regression and linear regression to compare professionally identified CANrelated ED visits before and after a COVID-19 public health emergency declaration in 2020, relative to trends over
the same period in 2018 and 2019.
Results: Although the number of both overall pediatric ED visits and CAN-related ED visits declined, the number of
CAN-related ED visits due to neglect from inadequate adult supervision increased by 62 % (p < 0.01). The number of
CAN visits per 1,000 pediatric ED visits also increased by 97 % (p < 0.01). Finally, the proportion of CAN-related ED
visits due to neglect from inadequate supervision increased by 100 % (p < 0.01).
Conclusions: Physicians should be aware that patients who present with injuries during a pandemic may be
victims of neglect due to changes in social structures in their households. In particular, maltreatment presenting to
the ED shifted toward treating injuries and abuse resulting from inadequate supervision. Policymakers should
consider the impacts of stay-at-home orders on child well-being when determining appropriate public health
responses in the midst of a pandemic.
Description
item.page.type
Article
item.page.format
Keywords
COVID-19, child abuse, neglect, pediatric emergency department, public health response, data
Citation
Bullinger, L. R., Boy, A., Messner, S., & Self-Brown, S. (2021). Pediatric emergency department visits due to child abuse and neglect following COVID-19 public health emergency declaration in the Southeastern United States. BMC pediatrics, 21(1), 1-9.