Comparing fatal child abuse involving biological and surrogate parents

BACKGROUND Nearly half of pediatric homicides younger than 5 years are attributable to child abuse. Parents are most commonly the perpetrators, but less is known about incidents involving biological versus surrogate parents. We sought to evaluate the characteristics of fatal child abuse involving biological and surrogate parents using the Georgia National Violent Death Reporting System, which we believe may differ in demographics and incident characteristics. METHODS This database was used to examine all homicides of children younger than 18 years from 2011 to 2017. Demographics and incident characteristics were analyzed using the existing National Violent Death Reporting System variables and incident narratives. Nonparametric and χ2 tests were used to compare fatal child abuse incidents involving biological and surrogate parents (e.g., adoptive, foster, step-parents, intimate partners of biological parent). RESULTS There were 452 pediatric homicides and 219 cases of fatal child abuse. Of all cases of fatal child abuse, 60% involved biological and 29% involved surrogate parents. Compared with children killed by biological parents, children killed by surrogate parents were older (4 vs. 3 years), more often male (71% vs. 51%), more likely to survive the initial injury and present to the emergency department before death (96% vs. 69%), and less likely to have a medical comorbidity (2% vs. 11%; all p
Source: The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: 2021 EAST QUICK SHOT Source Type: research