Investigating health disparities and disproportionality in child maltreatment reporting: 2002-2006.

OBJECTIVES

We examined health disparities and disproportionality in child protective services (CPS) reporting at a regional academic health center.

METHODS

We computed disproportionate representation and disparity indices from archived CPS reports for pediatric patients (N = 1,020) from 2002 to 2006.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that medical personnel reported African American and Hispanic pediatric patients to CPS (1) at higher rates than their representation in the general pediatric patient population and (2) at a rate approximately four times that of White pediatric patients. However, White pediatric patients were reported to CPS at lower rates than their general pediatric patient representation. Additional examination of socioeconomic factors demonstrated that pediatric patients from poor neighborhoods were reported to CPS (1) at higher rates than their numbers in the patient population and (2) five times more often than pediatric patients from prosperous neighborhoods.

CONCLUSIONS

We found significant racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disproportionality and disparities in medical personnel's CPS reporting practices. These findings augment the limited literature investigating disparities and disproportionality in medical personnel's CPS reporting practices. The inclusion of pediatric and general departments allows for increased generalizability of study results. However, more rigorous empirical examination is needed to identify the causal factors responsible for noted differences. Consequently, healthcare systems' collection and examination of patients' racial/ethnic data are imperative to effectively address the multifaceted, social welfare issues of health disparities and disproportionality.