Prevalence of Suspected Medical Child Abuse in the School Setting: A Study of School Nurses

We conducted a nation-wide online survey of school nurses in the United States to estimate the prevalence of suspected medical child abuse (MCA) among seriously ill or disabled students attending elementary or pre-school. Prior to being informed of our interest in MCA, the nurses identified a single seriously ill or disabled student to report on and provided information about themselves, the selected student, and the student's caregiver. They were then told the true purpose of the study and asked to rate their suspicions that the student they had selected was a victim of MCA, and at the very end of the survey we asked all the nurses if they worked with a student who they suspected was experiencing MCA. Prevalence of suspected MCA among the blindly selected seriously ill or disabled students, was 23127 per 1000. Half the nurses completing the survey reported they currently cared for a suspected MCA victim, suggesting a minimum prevalence of 22/1000 among seriously ill or disabled students in their care. The results suggest the setting of school nursing holds potential as both a venue for research on MCA and an important setting for finding and helping victims of MCA.