Mental and Physical Health Profiles of Maltreated Youth |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, United States;2. School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, United States;3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, United States;1. DEFACTUM – Public Health & Health Services Research, Central Denmark Region, Olof Palmes Allé 15, DK-8200, Aarhus N, Denmark;2. Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK–5230, Odense M, Denmark;1. Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States;2. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States;1. Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;2. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;3. Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa;4. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;5. Medical Research Council/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;6. School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia;7. Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| |
| Abstract: | To examine both mental and physical health profiles of children diagnosed as maltreated in the community, we studied diagnoses in the electronic health records (EHRs) of youth assigned maltreatment-related diagnoses (N = 406) and well-matched youth without a maltreatment-related diagnosis (N = 406) during a four-year period in a large healthcare system that covers eight hospitals and over 40 clinics. Data extracted automatically from the EHRs was supplemented by manual chart review. The odds of the maltreated group being assigned a code for mental illness was 2.69 times higher than the odds for the comparison group, with large differences in mood and anxiety disorders and suicidality. The odds of having an injury or poisoning diagnosis were 3.45 times higher in maltreated than in comparison youth. Maltreated youth were also less likely to have been immunized. Nevertheless, contrary to our hypothesis, maltreated youth had significantly lower rates of diagnoses across almost all major physical disease categories assessed and did not differ from comparison youth in terms of body mass index (BMI). Furthermore, maltreated youth were assigned fewer diagnoses than comparison youth whether they came in for at least one preventive visit or not. Findings suggest a need for health care professionals to be prepared to address the high rates of mental disorders in maltreated youth, to be more vigilant about possible physical disorders in this population, and to take greater advantage of opportunities to immunize these youth. |
| |
| Keywords: | abuse neglect maltreatment mental health physical health immunization |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
