TY - JOUR
T1 - Acceptance of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma as Medical Diagnoses
AU - Narang, Sandeep K.
AU - Estrada, Cynthia
AU - Greenberg, Sarah
AU - Lindberg, Daniel
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by the Texas Children's Justice Act ( CJA-15-03 ). S.N. and D.L. have provided paid expert testimony in cases of alleged child maltreatment. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Objective To assess the current general acceptance within the medical community of shaken baby syndrome (SBS), abusive head trauma (AHT), and several alternative explanations for findings commonly seen in abused children. Study design This was a survey of physicians frequently involved in the evaluation of injured children at 10 leading children's hospitals. Physicians were asked to estimate the likelihood that subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death would result from several proposed mechanisms. Results Of the 1378 physicians surveyed, 682 (49.5%) responded, and 628 were included in the final sample. A large majority of respondents felt that shaking with or without impact would be likely or highly likely to result in subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death, and that none of the alternative theories except motor vehicle collision would result in these 3 findings. SBS and AHT were comsidered valid diagnoses by 88% and 93% of the respondents, respectively. Conclusions Our empirical data confirm that SBS and AHT are still generally accepted by physicians who frequently encounter suspected child abuse cases, and are considered likely sources of subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death in young children. Other than a high-velocity motor vehicle collision, no alternative theories of causation for these findings are generally accepted.
AB - Objective To assess the current general acceptance within the medical community of shaken baby syndrome (SBS), abusive head trauma (AHT), and several alternative explanations for findings commonly seen in abused children. Study design This was a survey of physicians frequently involved in the evaluation of injured children at 10 leading children's hospitals. Physicians were asked to estimate the likelihood that subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death would result from several proposed mechanisms. Results Of the 1378 physicians surveyed, 682 (49.5%) responded, and 628 were included in the final sample. A large majority of respondents felt that shaking with or without impact would be likely or highly likely to result in subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death, and that none of the alternative theories except motor vehicle collision would result in these 3 findings. SBS and AHT were comsidered valid diagnoses by 88% and 93% of the respondents, respectively. Conclusions Our empirical data confirm that SBS and AHT are still generally accepted by physicians who frequently encounter suspected child abuse cases, and are considered likely sources of subdural hematoma, severe retinal hemorrhages, and coma or death in young children. Other than a high-velocity motor vehicle collision, no alternative theories of causation for these findings are generally accepted.
KW - abusive head trauma
KW - expert testimony
KW - shaken baby syndrome
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.06.036
DO - 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.06.036
M3 - Article
C2 - 27458075
AN - SCOPUS:84979235678
VL - 177
SP - 273
EP - 278
JO - Journal of Pediatrics
JF - Journal of Pediatrics
SN - 0022-3476
ER -