Background and objectives

There is widespread concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the incidence of child maltreatment. However, reports in the scientific literature documenting rates of child maltreatment during this period are scarce. This study was designed to explore whether the incidence of child maltreatment among patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of patients of all ages presenting to a pediatric Emergency Department trauma center, who also had a child abuse report filing or a sentinel injury diagnosis related to their index visit. All such patients who presented to this institution from March through July of 2017 through 2020 were included in the study.

Results

Analysis demonstrated an increase in the incidence of child maltreatment in May and June of 2020 and that there was an overall shift in distribution of types of child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a significant increase in the proportion of emotional/psychological abuse (2.52 % before the pandemic to 7.00 % during the pandemic, p ≤ 0.0001) and non-medical neglect (31.5%–40.0%, p ≤ 0.0001).

Conclusions

We observed an increase in specific types of child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the need for increased attention to children at risk for child abuse and neglect.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19：大流行期间哨兵伤害和虐待儿童报告的差异

背景和目标

人们普遍担心 COVID-19 大流行增加了虐待儿童的发生率。然而，记录这一时期儿童虐待率的科学文献报告很少。本研究旨在探讨在 COVID-19 大流行期间，就诊于儿科急诊科的患者虐待儿童的发生率是否有所增加。

方法

我们对就诊于儿科急诊科创伤中心的所有年龄段的患者进行了回顾性审查，这些患者也有虐待儿童报告备案或与他们的首次就诊相关的前哨伤害诊断。从 2017 年 3 月到 7 月到 2020 年到该机构就诊的所有此类患者均被纳入研究。

结果

分析表明，2020 年 5 月和 6 月虐待儿童的发生率有所上升，并且在 COVID-19 大流行期间，虐待儿童类型的分布发生了总体变化。情感/心理虐待（大流行前的 2.52% 到大流行期间的 7.00%，p ≤ 0.0001）和非医疗忽视（31.5%–40.0%，p ≤ 0.0001）的比例显着增加。

结论

我们观察到在 COVID-19 大流行期间特定类型的儿童虐待有所增加。这些调查结果强调需要更多地关注面临虐待和忽视儿童风险的儿童。