Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:52:52.577Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 16 - Epidemiology of Findings Claimed to Be Highly Specific for Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma, a Prerequisite to Improve Diagnosis of Child Abuse

from Section 3 - Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2023

Keith A. Findley
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Cyrille Rossant
Affiliation:
University College London
Kana Sasakura
Affiliation:
Konan University, Japan
Leila Schneps
Affiliation:
Sorbonne Université, Paris
Waney Squier
Affiliation:
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
Knut Wester
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
Get access

Summary

A systematic review by the SBU identified evidence gaps in diagnosing shaken baby syndrome. Population epidemiological studies, and clinical epidemiology, case-series and case-control studies, from Sweden, based on health registers (ICD-codes) and records for infants born 1997 to 2014, and forensic investigation, may add information to improve the diagnostic process of infant abuse. Our findings to date can be summarised as: perinatal exposure; small-for-gestational age, preterm, multiple birth, or male sex, increase the risk for SDH (subdural haemorrhage). Infants with chronic SDH more often had an abnormal increase in head circumference before or at the time of diagnosis. Intra- and inter-country differences in abuse diagnosis, and findings attributed to SBS/AHT indicate different prevailing practices and different interpretation of current understanding of injuries caused by abuse. A false-positive diagnosis of abuse is detrimental to the family. Further research on infant abuse, its circumstances and the specific findings indicative of abuse, is urgently needed to support evidence-based child protection, and to keep false positives and false negatives to a minimum.

Type
Chapter
Information
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy
, pp. 249 - 258
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

World Health Organization (WHO). Preventing child maltreatment: A guide to taking action and generating evidence. World Health Organization, 2006.Google Scholar
Daniel, JH, Newberger, EH, Reed, RB, et al. Child abuse screening: Implications of the limited predictive power of abuse discriminants from a controlled family study of pediatric social illness. Child Abuse and Neglect. 1978;2:247–59.Google Scholar
Maguire, SA, Kemp, AM, Lumb, RC, et al. Estimating the probability of abusive head trauma: A pooled analysis. Pediatrics. 2011;128(3):e550–64.Google Scholar
Elinder, G, Eriksson, A, Hallberg, B et al. Traumatic shaking: The role of the triad in medical investigations of suspected traumatic shaking. Acta Paediatrica. 2018;107(Suppl 472):323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Högberg, U, Lampa, E, Högberg, G et al. Infant abuse diagnosis associated with abuse head trauma criteria: Incidence increase due to overdiagnosis? European Journal of Public Health. 2018;28(4):641–6.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Andersson, J, Squier, W et al. Epidemiology of subdural haemorrhage during infancy: A population-based register study. PloS One. 2018:117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiblin, I, Andersson, J, Wester, K et al. Medical findings and symptoms in infants exposed to witnessed or admitted abusive shaking: A nationwide registry study. PLoS One. 2020;15(10):e0240182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thiblin, I, Andersson, J, Wester, K, et al. Retinal haemorrhage in infants investigated for suspected maltreatment is strongly correlated with intracranial pathology. Acta Paediatrica. 2021;111(4):800–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Högberg, U, Andersson, J, Högberg, G, et al. Metabolic bone disease risk strongly contributing to long bone and rib fractures during early infancy: A population register study. PLoS One. 2018;13(12):e0208033.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Fellman, V, Thiblin, I, et al. Difficult birth is the main contributor to birth-related fracture and accidents to other neonatal fractures. Acta Paediatrica. 2020;109(10):2040–8.Google Scholar
Von Heideken, J, Thiblin, I, Högberg, U. The epidemiology of infant shaft fractures of femur or humerus by incidence, birth, accidents, and other causes. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2020;21(1):840.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Högberg, U, Thiblin, I. Rib fractures in infancy, case-series and register case-control study from Sweden. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2021;34(3):363–72.Google Scholar
Hobbs, C, Childs, AM, Wynne, J, et al. Subdural haematoma and effusion in infancy: An epidemiological study. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2005;90(9):952–5.Google Scholar
Edwards, GA, Maguire, SA, Gaither, JR, et al. What do confessions reveal about abusive head trauma? A systematic review. Child Abuse Review. 2020;29(3):253–68.Google Scholar
Feldman, KW, Melville, JD, Johnson, KL et al. Abusive head trauma follows witnessed infant shaking. Child Abuse Review. 2022:e2739.Google Scholar
Mitchell, PD, Brown, R, Wang, T et al. Multicentre study of physical abuse and limb fractures in young children in the East Anglia region, UK. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2019;104(10):956–61.Google Scholar
Talbot, C, Davis, N, Majid, I et al. Fractures of the femoral shaft in children: National epidemiology and treatment trends in England following activation of major trauma networks. Bone and Joint Journal. 2018;100-B(1):109–18.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Winbo, J, Fellman, V. Population-based register study of children born in Sweden from 1997 to 2014 showed an increase in rickets during infancy. Acta Paediatrica. 2019;108(11):2034–40.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Andersson, J, Högberg, G, et al. Why is there a multi-fold difference in diagnosis of abuse among infants with long bone fracture in East Anglia compared with Sweden? Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2019;104(11):1122.Google Scholar
Mitchell, P, Brown, R, Wang, T, et al. Challenges in comparing physical abuse, fractures and metabolic bone disease in young children in the UK and Sweden. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2019;104(11):1122–3.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Sennerstam, R, Högberg, G et al. Medical diagnoses among infants at entry in out-of-home care: A Swedish population-register study. Health Science Report. 2019;2(8):e133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paine, CW, Fakeye, O, Christian, CW, et al. Prevalence of abuse among young children with rib fractures: A systematic review. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2019;35(2):96103.Google Scholar
Güvencel, A. With what certainty can it be claimed that rib fractures or classical metaphyseal lesions in infants are attributed to physical abuse? A systematic literature review [MSc]. University of Dundee, 2019.Google Scholar
Sunderland, R. Head injury: Abuse or accident. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1997;76:393–7.Google Scholar
Högberg, U, Eriksson, G, Högberg, G, et al. Parents’ experiences of seeking health care and encountering allegations of shaken baby syndrome: A qualitative study. PLoS One. 2020;15(2):e0228911.Google Scholar
Groopman, J. How doctors think. Mifflin, 2007.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×