Date of Presentation
5-5-2022 12:00 AM
College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for children. Many families have experienced stressors, including unemployment, financial hardship, and familial illness. These factors all pose increased risk for child physical abuse. Limitations in child welfare services affected investigations and provision of services to high-risk families. The extent to which the rates of physical abuse in NJ have been affected is unknown. We sought to answer the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of physical abuse and the incidence of physical abuse presenting to Cooper University Hospital.
We hypothesized that there would be a higher proportion of severe child physical abuse cases presenting to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to prior to the pandemic.
Keywords
COVID-19, Child Abuse, Camden, New Jersey
Disciplines
Community Health | Emergency Medicine | Family Medicine | Medical Humanities | Medicine and Health Sciences | Patient Safety | Pediatrics
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Community Health Commons, Emergency Medicine Commons, Family Medicine Commons, Medical Humanities Commons, Patient Safety Commons, Pediatrics Commons
Investigation of Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalization Rates of Child Physical Abuse at Cooper University Hospital Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for children. Many families have experienced stressors, including unemployment, financial hardship, and familial illness. These factors all pose increased risk for child physical abuse. Limitations in child welfare services affected investigations and provision of services to high-risk families. The extent to which the rates of physical abuse in NJ have been affected is unknown. We sought to answer the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of physical abuse and the incidence of physical abuse presenting to Cooper University Hospital.
We hypothesized that there would be a higher proportion of severe child physical abuse cases presenting to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to prior to the pandemic.