![]() Patients are included in the registry if trauma team activation criteria (described in detail below) are met on presentation, if pediatric trauma service consultation is provided during the emergency department (ED) stay or hospital admission, or if the patient is a suspected or confirmed victim of an assault. The pediatric trauma team consists of pediatric surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, critical care specialists, a multidisciplinary child protection team, and a variety of other healthcare providers focused on pediatric trauma care. ![]() Over half of patients treated at the trauma center are African American and most are publicly insured. The center treats over 800 children who are severely injured or burned each year, and services both the city of Baltimore and the surrounding region. Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (JHCC) is designated by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) as a level I pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. The registry is comprised of patients undergoing evaluation and treatment by the pediatric trauma team at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland. This institutional review board approved retrospective study reviewed patients from the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Trauma Registry. In doing so, we hope to increase awareness of this secondary health consequence of social distancing in hopes that mitigation strategies can be implemented to prevent physical child abuse should similar circumstances arise in the future. Furthermore, we sought to characterize the demographic and injury profiles of children treated for physical child abuse at our center and to compare them with the corresponding period in the two preceding years. The purpose of this study is to assess the proportion of injuries secondary to physical child abuse treated at a level I pediatric trauma center in the month following the mandatory statewide closure of childcare facilities in Maryland during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, less is known regarding the effects of social distancing measures on physical child abuse. These circumstances may increase the risk of family violence, and increased intimate partner violence has been reported ( Kelly & Morgan, 2020 Sapien, Thompson, Raghavendran, & Megan Rose, 2020). Additionally, they have restricted access to childcare arrangements and decreased interfaces with primary care pediatricians, reducing contact with the caretakers and healthcare providers who typically account for the majority of child protective services referrals. For families with young children, both self-imposed and government mandated social distancing measures have resulted in increased time in the home setting. ![]() While social distancing measures are beneficial and necessary in slowing transmission of the virus ( Lewnard & Lo, 2020), they may have unintended secondary health consequences, especially to vulnerable populations. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced mass closures of businesses, schools and childcare facilities around the United States, and internationally, in an effort to mitigate the spread of disease. ![]()
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