Correlation of Social Vulnerability With Child Physical Abuse at an Urban Level 1 Trauma Center.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2025
Identifier
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2025.09.073
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Child physical abuse or nonaccidental trauma (NAT) is a common cause of child fatalities in the United States and remains an important target for injury prevention. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between social vulnerability on rates of child physical abuse in the communities surrounding our institution.
METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using trauma registry admissions data at a level 1 pediatric trauma center from January 2015 to December 2022. Social vulnerability is defined by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) provided by the Center for Disease Control database. SVI was compared between patients evaluated for child physical abuse and patients without suspicion of child physical abuse, with subanalysis of individual SVI themes and factors using chi square, Kruskal-Wallis, and logistic regression tests as appropriate.
RESULTS: A total of 8808 patients were admitted from January 2015 through December 2022, of which 434 had available SVI data and were evaluated for NAT. Patients with SVI ranking in the highest quartile were more likely to be investigated for NAT (P < 0.001). Patients in the high SVI group had a 28.6% relative increase in odds ratio of NAT from 1.4 (95% confidence interval 1.2-1.7) prepandemic to 1.8 (95% confidence interval 1.54-2.11) during the pandemic. All SVI themes were significantly associated with NAT and housing/transportation was the most significant theme for predicting NAT.
CONCLUSIONS: Children within socially vulnerable communities served by our trauma center were found to be at increased risk of NAT. This relationship was significantly exacerbated by pandemic shutdown and reopening measures.
Journal Title
The Journal of surgical research
Volume
315
First Page
755
Last Page
760
MeSH Keywords
Humans; Retrospective Studies; Trauma Centers; Male; Female; Child Abuse; Child; Child, Preschool; Infant; Social Vulnerability; Registries; Wounds and Injuries; Adolescent; United States
PubMed ID
41138580
Keywords
Child physical abuse; Injury prevention; Nonaccidental trauma (NAT); Social vulnerability index (SVI); Socioeconomic determinants
Recommended Citation
Wang S, Scrushy M, Purcell L, Abbe M, Ryan M. Correlation of Social Vulnerability With Child Physical Abuse at an Urban Level 1 Trauma Center. J Surg Res. 2025;315:755-760. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2025.09.073
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