Primary Care Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Published in Journal of the American Medical Association. Here is a link to the article.

Regenstrief Institute author: Sarah Wiehe, MD, MPH.

Abstract
Importance: Child maltreatment, which includes child abuse and neglect, can have profound effects on health, development, survival, and well-being throughout childhood and adulthood. The prevalence of child maltreatment in the US is uncertain and likely underestimated. In 2021, an estimated 600 000 children were identified by Child Protective Services as experiencing abuse or neglect and an estimated 1820 children died of abuse and neglect.

Objective: The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a systematic review to evaluate benefits and harms of primary care-feasible or referable behavioral counseling interventions to prevent child maltreatment in children and adolescents younger than 18 years without signs or symptoms of maltreatment.

Population: Children and adolescents younger than 18 years who do not have signs or symptoms of or known exposure to maltreatment.

Evidence assessment: The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to determine the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment in children and adolescents younger than 18 years without signs or symptoms of or known exposure to maltreatment.

Recommendation: The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment. (I statement).

Authors
US Preventive Services Task Force; Michael J Barry ¹, Wanda K Nicholson ², Michael Silverstein ³, David Chelmow ⁴, Tumaini Rucker Coker ⁵, Esa M Davis ⁶, Carlos Roberto Jaén ⁷, M Tonette Krousel-Wood ⁸, Sei Lee ⁹, Li Li ¹⁰, Goutham Rao ¹¹, John M Ruiz ¹², James J Stevermer ¹³, Joel Tsevat ⁷, Sandra Millon Underwood ¹⁴, Sarah Wiehe ¹⁵

Affiliations

¹Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
²George Washington University, Washington, DC.
³Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
⁴Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.
⁵University of Washington, Seattle.
⁶University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
⁷University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.
⁸Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
⁹University of California, San Francisco.
¹⁰University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
¹¹Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
¹²University of Arizona, Tucson.
¹³University of Missouri, Columbia.
¹⁴University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
¹⁵Indiana University, Bloomington.1Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.