Knowing Your Patient Population: Techniques to Capture Infants at High Risk for Physical Abuse in a Trauma Registry

In brief

This article examines methods to identify infants at high risk for physical abuse within trauma registry systems, addressing limitations in the TQIP database's age reporting for pediatric patients. It explores how clinical decision tools can improve early detection and risk-stratification of abusive injuries in the infant population.

• Physical abuse is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality, requiring systematic identification in trauma settings.
• TQIP database limitations (no granular age reporting for children) hinder accurate capture of high-risk infant abuse cases.
• Clinical decision tools from trauma registries can improve timely risk-stratification for suspected physical abuse in infants.
• Trauma registry design must include age-specific fields to enable effective surveillance and intervention for infant abuse.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.