Victimization among children and adolescents accessing the Meyer pediatric hospital: A retrospective study.
Annalaura Nocentini, Giada Fiorentini, Francesca Maffei and 7 others
PMID 34114305WHAT IT FOUND
Victimization was recorded for 108 children and adolescents, 15.3%.
Overall rates were similar across services, but older patients in the psychiatry service were more often victimized.
Key findings
01Victimization was recorded for 108 children and adolescents, 15.3%; 8.2% occasional and 7.1% systematic.
02Overall victimization rates did not differ significantly across the three hospital departments.
03Verbal victimization was linked to the psychiatry and neurorehabilitation service, and physical victimization to the abuse unit.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Victimization was taken from medical interviews and records, not a validated questionnaire, so underreporting or inconsistent coding is possible. The study was retrospective and cannot show that victimization caused the hospital access or the symptoms. It used records from one pediatric hospital over October 2015 to December 2017, so results may not generalize to other settings. The analysis reported associations with service and age, not treatment effects or outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 15.3% figure as the true prevalence of victimization in all pediatric hospital patients. It came from routine medical records at one hospital without a validated victimization measure, and the study cannot show that victimization caused the hospital visit.