Emergency Department Dispositions for Abused Children

While lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been weakly associated with some types of physical abuse, SES has also been linked with disparities in care. These authors tested whether SES plays a role in emergency department disposition decisions (admission or discharge) for children with physical abuse.

Using data from the 2006–2012 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), the researchers identified 37,655 children <2 years old with ICD-9 codes for physical abuse. They used a multivariable model to determine the association between disposition and patient, injury, and hospital characteristics.

Children were more likely to be admitted if they were younger than 1 year, were male, had more severe injuries, were seen at a trauma center, or we…