The True Cost of Child Abuse at a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center
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Topic overview
Abstract
Background
Child physical abuse (CPA) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Children who sustain CPA consume significant healthcare resources. We hypothesized that the costs to care for children who sustain for children with CPA-type injuries are greater than the costs to care for children who sustain accidental injuries.
Methods
All confirmed CPA patients between the ages of 0 and 19 years old, who were admitted to a level 1 pediatric trauma center between January 2010 and September 2018, were retrospectively reviewed. We compared outcomes, including mortality, length of stay (LOS), diagnostic work-up, and overall cost using propensity matching between CPA and accidentally injured trauma patients. Patients were matched based on injury severity score (ISS).
Results
The CPA cohort (n = 595) was younger (1.31 +/− 1.96 years, p
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