Child Abuse in Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Nicola Brodie; Maria D. McColgan; Nancy D. Spector; Renee M. Turchi

doi:10.1542/pir.2016-0098

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Nicola Brodie, MD*
Maria D. McColgan, MD^†
Nancy D. Spector, MD^‡
Renee M. Turchi, MD, MPH^§

^*Department of Pediatrics,
^†Child Protection Program,
^‡Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program, and
^§Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, Drexel University College of Medicine, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA

AUTHOR DISCLOSURE
Drs Brodie and Turchi have disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this article. Dr McColgan has disclosed that she is principal investigator for Children’s Trust Fund’s Family Safe Zone Project, that she provides expert witness testimony and expert opinion in legal cases, and that she owns employee stock in Tenet Health. Dr Spector has disclosed that she is coinvestigator on PCORI CDR-1306-03556, Bringing I-PASS to the Bedside: A Communication Bundle to Improve Patient Safety and Experience; that she mentored implementation of the I-PASS Program as coinvestigator on AHRQ 1R18HS023291; and that she is a member of the Coordinating Council and Scientific Oversight Committees and co-chair of the Educational Executive and Dissemination Committees for both projects. Dr McColgan's current affiliation is The CARES Institute, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.

Abbreviation:

AAP:: American Academy of Pediatrics

Education Gap

As the number of children and youth with special health care needs increases, it is imperative that pediatricians garner the skills to identify patients at increased risk for abuse, to correctly differentiate child abuse and neglect from accidental injury or sequelae of specific disease processes, to appropriately report child abuse, and to integrate prevention strategies into the medical home for our most vulnerable patients.

Objectives

After completing this article, readers should be able to:

Detail the definition and epidemiology of children with special health care needs.
Describe the epidemiology of child abuse and neglect.
Review the prevalence of abuse in children with special health care needs.
Determine the psychosocial and environmental risk factors for child abuse and neglect.
Differentiate the findings associated with physical abuse from those of accidental injury or illness.
List unique barriers to identifying and reporting abuse in children with special health care needs.
Identify strategies to prevent child abuse …