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Child abuse pediatrics (CAP) subspecialists evaluate, diagnose, and treat children when abuse or neglect is suspected. Despite the high rates of child maltreatment across the United States, CAP remains the smallest pediatric subspecialty. The CAP workforce faces numerous challenges, including few fellows entering the field, decreased financial compensation compared with other fields of medicine, and threats to workforce retention, including secondary trauma and harmful exposure in the media. A microsimulation model that estimates the future of the US CAP workforce over the next 20 years shows that, although the number of child abuse pediatricians in the field is expected to increase, the growth is smaller than that of every other pediatric subspecialty. In addition to the low overall CAP workforce in the United States, other workforce issues include the need to increase CAP subspecialists who are underrepresented in medicine and unequal geographic distribution across the country. To meet the medical needs of suspected victims of maltreatment, especially in CAP-underserved areas, many children are evaluated by providers who are not board-certified in CAP, such as general pediatricians, family medicine physicians, emergency medicine physicians, and advanced practice providers, whose CAP experience and training may vary. Current child abuse pediatricians should continue introducing the field to medical students and residents, especially those who identify as underrepresented in medicine or are from CAP-underserved areas, and offer mentorship, continuing education, and oversight to non-CAP physicians meeting this population's medical needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Suspicion for child abuse is influenced by implicit biases. Evaluation by a Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) may reduce avoidable child protective services (CPS) referrals. Our objective was to investigate the association of patient demographic, social and clinical characteristics with CPS referral before consultation by a CAP (preconsultation referral). METHODS: Children < 5 years-old undergoing in-person CAP consultation for suspected physical abuse from February 2021 through April 2022 were identified in CAPNET, a multicenter child abuse research network. Marginal standardization implemented with logistic regression analysis examined hospital-level variation and identified demographic, social, and clinical factors associated with preconsultation referral adjusting for CAP's final assessment of abuse likelihood. RESULTS: Among the 61% (1005/1657) of cases with preconsultation referral, the CAP consultant had low concern for abuse in 38% (384/1005). Preconsultation referrals ranged from 25% to 78% of cases across 10 hospitals (P < .001). In multivariable analyses, preconsultation referral was associated with public insurance, caregiver history of CPS involvement, history of intimate partner violence, higher CAP level of concern for abuse, hospital transfer, and near-fatality (all P < .05). The difference in preconsultation referral prevalence for children with public versus private insurance was significant for children with low CAP concern for abuse (52% vs 38%) but not those with higher concern for abuse (73% vs 73%), (P = .023 for interaction of insurance and abuse likelihood category). There were no differences in preconsultation referral based on race or ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Biases based on socioeconomic status and social factors may impact decisions to refer to CPS before CAP consultation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Examine the epidemiology of subspecialty physical abuse evaluations within CAPNET, a multicenter child abuse pediatrics research network. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of children <10 years old who underwent an evaluation (in-person or remote) by a child abuse pediatrician (CAP) due to concerns for physical abuse at ten CAPNET hospital systems from February 2021 through December 2021. RESULTS: Among 3667 patients with 3721 encounters, 69.4% were <3 years old; 44.3% <1 year old, 59.1% male; 27.1% Black; 57.8% White, 17.0% Hispanic; and 71.0 % had public insurance. The highest level of care was outpatient/emergency department in 60.7%, inpatient unit in 28.0% and intensive care in 11.4%. CAPs performed 79.1% in-person consultations and 20.9% remote consultations. Overall, the most frequent injuries were bruises (35.2%), fractures (29.0%), and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) (16.2%). Abdominal (1.2%) and spine injuries (1.6%) were uncommon. TBI was diagnosed in 30.6% of infants but only 8.4% of 1-year old children. In 68.2% of cases a report to child protective services (CPS) was made prior to CAP consultation; in 12.4% a report was made after CAP consultation. CAPs reported no concern for abuse in 43.0% of cases and mild/intermediate concern in 22.3%. Only 14.2% were categorized as definite abuse. CONCLUSION: Most children in CAPNET were <3 years old with bruises, fractures, or intracranial injuries. CPS reports were frequently made prior to CAP consultation. CAPs had a low level of concern for abuse in majority of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Skeletal surveys (SS) are recommended for the evaluation of suspected physical abuse in children <2 years old. No guidelines exist for SS completion in children between 2 and 5 years old., Objective: To determine rates of SS completion by age and examine variables associated with occult fracture identification in older children., Participants and Setting: Observational cross-sectional multi-center study of 10 US pediatric centers 2/2021-9/2022 including children <6 years old evaluated for physical child abuse., Methods: The principal outcome is occult fracture identified on SS. Non-parametric tests were conducted from comparison between age groups and those with and without occult fractures., Results: The rate of SS completion declined with increasing age from a high of 91 % in infants <6 months old to 7 % in children 5-5.9 years old. The proportion of SS with occult fractures also decreased with age. Of 450 children 2-5 years old with a SS, 20 [4 % (95 % CI: 3-8 %)] had an occult fracture. The rate of occult fractures among children 2-5 years old who were diagnosed with abuse and not admitted to the hospital was 0.3 % (95 % CI 0-0.6 %)]. Over 30 % of children 2-5 years old were diagnosed with child abuse by a child abuse pediatrician without completion of a SS., Conclusion: In children 2-5 years of age being evaluated for physical abuse, use of SS and the rate of occult fractures is low. The number of SS performed in children in this age group could potentially be decreased by up to 60 % by limiting SS to children admitted to the hospital., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The pediatric subspecialty of Child Abuse Pediatrics (CAP) was certified by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties in 2006. Relative to its impact on pediatric health, CAP-focused research has been relatively under-funded. Multi-center networks related to CAP-focused research have made important advances, but have been limited in scope and duration. CAPNET is multi-center network whose mission is to support CAP-focused research., Objective: To describe the rationale, development, and scope of the CAPNET research network infrastructure, the CAPNET data registry and associated data resources., Methods: Based on existing priorities for CAP-focused research, we used consensus building and iterative testing to establish inclusion criteria, common data elements, data quality assurance, and data sharing processes for children with concerns of physical abuse., Results: We describe the rationale, methods and intended scope for the development of the CAPNET research network and data registry. CAPNET is currently abstracting data for children <10 years (120 months) old who undergo sub-specialty evaluation for physical abuse at 10 US pediatric centers (approximately 4000 evaluations/year total) using an online data capture form. Data domains include: demographics; visit timing and providers, medical/social history, presentation, examination findings, laboratory and radiographic testing, diagnoses, outcomes, and data for contact children. We describe the methods and criteria for collecting and validating data which are broadly available to CAP investigators., Conclusions: CAPNET represents a new data resource for the CAP research community and will increase the quantity and quality of CAP-focused research., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)