Abusive Head Trauma
Several reporting biases have been noted in AHT and other maltreatment reporting:
- Failure to consider the diagnosis when the family has higher SES or other characteristics (race, culture) [“white, intact families”];
- Failure to order head imaging because of implicit bias;
- Failure to order skeletal surveys after brain injury identified;
- Failure to evaluate for the diagnosis because of fear of the legal system and courts.
Accessible Version
Keep in mind that there are several reporting biases noted in AHT and other maltreatment reporting: These include: 1-Failure to consider the diagnosis when the family has higher SES or other characteristics such as race, ethnicity or culture; 2-Failure to order head imaging because of implicit bias; 3-Failure to order skeletal surveys after brain injury identified; 4-Failure to evaluate for the diagnosis because of fear of the legal system and courts. It has been suggested that one way to reduce bias is to have protocols in place for evaluation that do not take information about race or SES status into account. New York State mandated reporter training suggests asking yourself this question: “Would my reporting change if the child or family had a different race, ethnicity or other characteristic unrelated to the injury?”