Yield of Injury Testing for Contacts of Children Evaluated for Physical Abuse

Authors

• Lígia Batista
• Joanne N Wood
• Tagrid M Ruiz-Maldonado
• M Katherine Henry
• Jan Leonard
• Angela Bachim
• James D Anderst
• Farah W Brink
• Hannah B Sahud
• Lori D Frasier
• Nancy S Harper
• Natalie Laub
• Colleen J Bressler
• Daniel M Lindberg

Language

English

Publication Date

4-1-2026

Journal

Child Abuse & Neglect

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.107950

PMID

41747448

PMCID

PMC12977195

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-12-2026

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Background: Siblings and household contacts of physically abused children are at increased risk for physical abuse and may have injuries that are not clinically apparent. However, injury testing recommendations for contact children remain debated.

Objective: Our objective was to describe testing practices and yield for contacts of physically abused children.

Participants and settings: This is a cross-sectional study of children < 10 years old evaluated for physical abuse at 10 US pediatric referral centers in the CAPNET research network.

Methods: We report the proportion of contact children who had a skeletal survey (SS) or neuroimaging and describe the proportion of tests that identified injuries.

Results: Among 6256 index evaluations, 4863 contacts were identified. Among 794 contacts with physical examinations, 530 had no findings on physical examination and 694 had no history of trauma. Among 316 contacts < 24 months old where the index child had high concern for abuse, 196 (62%) had a SS and 20 had fractures identified by the SS. SS completion was more common for twins, contacts < 12 months old, and contacts with findings on physical exam. Among 123 contacts < 12 months old where there was high concern for abuse in the index child, 49 (40%) had neuroimaging. Of these, 5 had intracranial hemorrhage; all were twins.

Conclusions: When skeletal survey and neuroimaging were completed in contacts of abused children, injuries were more common in twins and younger contacts.

Keywords

Humans, Child Abuse, Cross-Sectional Studies, Male, Female, Child, Preschool, Infant, Child, Physical Examination, Wounds and Injuries, United States, Neuroimaging, Fractures, Bone, Child Physical Abuse, Skeletal Survey, Occult Injury

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Batista, Lígia; Wood, Joanne N; Ruiz-Maldonado, Tagrid M; et al., "Yield of Injury Testing for Contacts of Children Evaluated for Physical Abuse" (2026). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 7754.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/7754