University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, 325 Pittsboro St, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
University of Kansas School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
Int J Drug Policy. 2024 Aug;130:104527. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104527. Epub 2024 Jul 25.
In the U.S., the opioid epidemic has revitalized national attention to newborns with prenatal substance exposure (PSE). These newborns and their caregivers have specific health and treatment needs and frequently interact with multiple systems, including child protection systems (CPS).
This study calculated rates of newborns (less than 15 days old) reported to CPS per 1,000 births due to PSE by state and year using data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). Given the lack of a clear definition of PSE reports in the data, we calculated rates using three different definitions. To examine the relationship between different state laws regarding the mandated reporting of PSE and PSE reports rates, we used panel data analysis.
Rates of newborn reports more than doubled between 2011 and 2019. There was extensive state variability of rates including some states that were consistently more than 100 % greater than and others consistently more than 150 % less than the annual national mean. Reporting rates were not associated with state requirements to report PSE, but were positively associated with rates of diagnosed neonatal abstinence syndrome.
State-level inconsistencies in identification, reporting, and CPS responses prevent a clear understanding of the scope of the affected population and service needs.
在美国，阿片类药物泛滥问题重新引起了全国对有产前物质暴露（PSE）的新生儿的关注。这些新生儿及其照顾者有特殊的健康和治疗需求，经常与多个系统互动，包括儿童保护系统（CPS）。
本研究使用国家儿童虐待和忽视数据系统（NCANDS）的数据，按州和年份计算了每 1000 例因 PSE 而向 CPS 报告的新生儿（不到 15 天）的报告率。鉴于数据中缺乏对 PSE 报告的明确定义，我们使用了三种不同的定义来计算报告率。为了研究不同州关于 PSE 强制报告的法律与 PSE 报告率之间的关系，我们使用了面板数据分析。
2011 年至 2019 年间，新生儿报告率翻了一番多。报告率存在广泛的州际差异，包括一些州的报告率始终比全国平均水平高出 100%以上，而另一些州的报告率始终比全国平均水平低 150%以上。报告率与州报告 PSE 的要求无关，但与确诊的新生儿戒断综合征的发生率呈正相关。
在识别、报告和 CPS 反应方面的州级不一致，阻碍了对受影响人群的范围和服务需求的清晰理解。
