Risk of Postneonatal Infant Mortality Associated With Prior Founded Allegations of Child Abuse

Abstract

This study examined the association between prior reports of child abuse and subsequent postneonatal death and differences by cause of death, using data from the Chicago Infant Mortality Study (CIMS). CIMS included all sudden, unexplained infant deaths up to 1 year of age in Chicago (November 1993–April 1996), and age, race-ethnicity, and birthweight-matched living controls. Information on prior child abuse reports and outcomes was obtained through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) State Central Registry for each case and control. Conditional logistic regression modeling determined the odds of postneonatal death when there was a founded prior allegation. Families with founded allegations were almost 4 times more likely to have a child die during the postneonatal period (aOR = 3.79, 95% CI, 1.56, 9.10). Child protective services involvement is an opportunity for education on safe sleep messaging to help reduce the incidence of potentially preventable infant deaths.

Keywords

child abuse child protective services infants case-control studies

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ahlers-Schmidt

C. R.

Schunn

Hervey

A. M.

Torres

Sage

Henao

Kuhlmann

(2021). Infant safe sleep promotion: Increasing capacity of child protective services employees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), 4227. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084227

Bechtel

Derbyshire

Gaither

J. R.

Leventhal

J. M.

(2019). Characteristics that distinguish abusive from nonabusive causes of sudden unexpected infant deaths. Pediatric Emergency Care, 37(12), Article e780–e783. https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0000000000001787

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and Sudden Infant Death Sydrome. Data and Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/sids/data

Chance

Scannapieco

(2002). Ecological correlates of child maltreatment: Similarities and differences between child fatality and nonfatality. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 19(2), 139–161. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1014598423396

Chen

Y. T.

Liu

C. L.

Chen

C. J.

Chen

M. H.

Chen

C. Y.

Tsao

P. N.

Chou

H. C.

Chen

P. C.

(2021). Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and sudden infant death syndrome. Chemosphere, 271(Suppl 3), 129515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129515

Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (2020). Out of routine: A review of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in families where the children are considered at risk of significant harm. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/901091/DfE_Death_in_infancy_review.pdf

Child Trends . (2021). Child maltreatment. https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/child-maltreatment

Dale

M. K.

(2014). Addressing the underlying issue of poverty in child-neglect cases. American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2014/addressing-underlying-issue-poverty-child-neglect-cases/.

Ely

D. M.

Driscoll

A. K.

(2019). Infant mortality in the United States, 2017: Data from the period linked birth/infant death file. National Vital Statistics Report, Issue. N. C. F. H. Statistics, 68(10), 1-20. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/80304

10.

Ely

D.M.

Driscoll

A.K.

Mathews

T. .J.

(2018). Infant mortality by age at death in the United States, 2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 326. National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db326.htm

11.

Erck Lambert

A. B.

Parks

S. E.

Shapiro-Mendoza

C. K.

(2018). National and state trends in sudden unexpected infant death: 1990-2015. Pediatrics, 141(3), Article e20173519. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3519

12.

Garstang

J. J.

Sidebotham

(2019). Qualitative analysis of serious case reviews into unexpected infant deaths. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 104(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2018-315156

13.

Garstang

Watson

Pease

Ellis

Blair

P. S.

Fleming

(2021). Improving engagement with services to prevent sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in families with children at risk of significant harm: A systematic review of evidence. Child: Care, Health and Development, 47(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12875

14.

Gibbons

L. E.

Ponsonby

A. L.

Dwyer

(1993). A comparison of prospective and retrospective responses on sudden infant death syndrome by case and control mothers. American Journal of Epidemiology, 137(6), 654–659. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116723

15.

Hauck

F. R.

Herman

S. M.

Donovan

Iyasu

Merrick Moore

Donoghue

Kirschner

R. H.

Willinger

(2003). Sleep environment and the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in an urban population: The Chicago infant mortality study. Pediatrics, 111(5 Pt 2), 1207–1214. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.111.s1.1207

16.

Hauck

F. R.

Moore

C. M.

Herman

S. M.

Donovan

Kalelkar

Christoffel

K. K.

Hoffman

H. J.

Rowley

(2002). The contribution of prone sleeping position to the racial disparity in sudden infant death syndrome: The Chicago infant mortality study. Pediatrics, 110(4), 772–780. https://doi/org/10.1542/peds.110.4.772

17.

Illinois General Assembly (n.d.). Illinois compiled statutes.

18.

Illinois State Medical Society (2021). Screening pregnant women for alcohol, tobacco and drug use.

19.

Jonson-Reid

Chance

Drake

(2007). Risk of death among children reported for nonfatal maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 12(1), 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559506296722

20.

Kessner

D. M.

Singer

Kalk

C. E.

Schlesinger

E. R.

(1973). Infant death: An analysis by maternal risk and health care. JAMA.

21.

Kleinman

J. C.

Kiely

J. L.

(1990). Postneonatal mortality in the United States: An international perspective. Pediatrics, 86(6 Pt 2), 1091–1097.

22.

Krous

H. F.

Haas

E. A.

Manning

J. M.

Deeds

Silva

P. D.

Chadwick

A. E.

Stanley

(2006). Child protective services referrals in cases of sudden infant death: A 10-year, population-based analysis in San Diego county, California. Child Maltreatment, 11(3), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559506289586

23.

Mitchell

E. A.

Taylor

B. J.

Ford

R. P.

Stewart

A. W.

Becroft

D. M.

Thompson

J. M.

Scragg

Hassall

I. B.

Barry

D. M.

Allen

E. M.

(1992). Four modifiable and other major risk factors for cot death: The New Zealand study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 28(Suppl 1), S3–S8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1754.1992.tb02729.x

24.

Moon

R. Y.

Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome . (2016). SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: Evidence base for 2016 updated recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics, 138(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2940

25.

Moon

R. Y.

Hauck

F. R.

(2018). Risk Factors and Theories. In Duncan

J. R.

Byard

R. W.

(Eds.), SIDS sudden infant and early childhood death: The past, the present and the future. Adelaide, Australia: University of Adelaide Press. https://doi.org/10.20851/sids-10

26.

Palusci

V. J.

Kay

A. J.

Batra

Moon

R. Y.

Corey

T. S.

Andrew

Graham

Sirotnak

A.P.

Flaherty

E. G.

Gavril

A. R.

Gilmartin

A. B. H.

Haney

S. B.

Idzerda

S. M.

Laskey

A. T.

Legano

L. A.

Hauck

F. R.

Council on Child Abuse and Neglect; Section on Child Death Review and Prevention; Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; National Association of Medical Examiners. (2019). Identifying child abuse fatalities during infancy. Pediatrics, 144(3), e20192076. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2076

27.

Putnam-Hornstein

(2011). Report of maltreatment as a risk factor for injury death: A prospective birth cohort study. Child Maltreatment, 16(3), 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559511411179

28.

Putnam-Hornstein

Schneiderman

J. U.

Cleves

M. A.

Magruder

Krous

H. F.

(2014). A prospective study of sudden unexpected infant death after reported maltreatment. The Journal of Pediatrics, 164(1), 142–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.08.073

29.

Roehler

D. R.

Quinlan

K. P.

Batra

E. K.

(2019). Putting SUID risk into perspective: Comparison of SUID risk to other leading causes of death in youth. Pediatrics, 144(2 MeetingAbstract), 97. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.144.2_MeetingAbstract.97

30.

Royal College of Pathologists (2016). Sudden unexpected death in infancy and childhood: Multi-agency guidelines for care and investigation (2nd ed.).

31.

Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (2016). SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: Updated 2016 recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics, 138(5), Article e20162940. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2938

32.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, A. F. C. F. (2017). Child maltreatment 2017. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2017.pdf

33.

Willinger

James

L. S.

Catz

(1991). (Sep-Oct). Defining the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): Deliberations of an expert panel convened by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Pediatric Pathology, 11(5), 677-684. https://doi.org/10.3109/15513819109065465