Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Department of Pediatrics, Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Jun;140:106186. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106186. Epub 2023 Apr 7.
The possibility that child maltreatment was misclassified as unintentional injury during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been evaluated.
We assessed if child maltreatment hospitalizations changed during the pandemic, and if the change was accompanied by an increase in unintentional injuries.
This study included children aged 0-4 years who were admitted for maltreatment or unintentional injuries between April 2006 and March 2021 in hospitals of Quebec, Canada.
We used interrupted time series regression to estimate the effect of the pandemic on hospitalization rates for maltreatment, compared with unintentional transport accidents, falls, and mechanical force injuries. We assessed if the change in maltreatment hospitalization was accompanied by an increase in specific types of unintentional injury.
Hospitalizations for child maltreatment decreased from 16.3 per 100,000 (95 % CI 9.1-23.4) the year before the pandemic to 13.2 per 100,000 (95 % CI 6.7-19.7) during the first lockdown. Hospitalizations for most types of unintentional injury also decreased, but injuries due to falls involving another person increased from 9.0 to 16.5 per 100,000. Hospitalization rates for maltreatment and unintentional injury remained low during the second lockdown, but mechanical force injuries involving another person increased from 3.8 to 8.1 per 100,000.
Hospitalizations for child maltreatment may have been misclassified as unintentional injuries involving another person during the pandemic. Children admitted for these types of unintentional injuries may benefit from closer assessment to rule out maltreatment.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，虐待儿童是否被错误地归类为意外伤害尚未得到评估。
我们评估了大流行期间虐待儿童住院治疗是否发生了变化，如果发生了变化，是否伴随着意外伤害的增加。
本研究纳入了 2006 年 4 月至 2021 年 3 月期间在加拿大魁北克省医院因虐待或意外伤害住院的 0-4 岁儿童。
我们使用中断时间序列回归来评估大流行对虐待儿童住院率的影响，与非故意伤害性交通意外、跌倒和机械力损伤进行比较。我们评估了虐待儿童住院率的变化是否伴随着特定类型意外伤害的增加。
在大流行之前的一年，虐待儿童的住院率为每 10 万人 16.3 例（95%CI9.1-23.4），而在第一次封锁期间降至每 10 万人 13.2 例（95%CI6.7-19.7）。大多数类型的意外伤害住院率也有所下降，但涉及他人跌倒的伤害从每 10 万人 9.0 例增加到 16.5 例。在第二次封锁期间，虐待儿童和意外伤害的住院率仍然较低，但涉及他人的机械力损伤从每 10 万人 3.8 例增加到 8.1 例。
在大流行期间，虐待儿童的住院治疗可能被错误地归类为涉及他人的意外伤害。因这些类型的意外伤害住院的儿童可能需要更密切的评估以排除虐待。
