Citation

Choo EK, Spiro DM, Lowe RA, Newgard CD, Hall MK, McConnell KJ. J. Rural Health 2010; 26(4): 361-365.

Affiliation

Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Department of Emergency Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, San Francisco-San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, National Rural Health Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1748-0361.2010.00307.x

PMID

21029171

PMCID

PMC2967446

Abstract

Purpose: To characterize differences in child abuse management resources between urban and rural emergency departments (EDs). Methods: We surveyed ED directors and nurse managers at hospitals in Oregon to gain information about available abuse-related resources. Chi-square analysis was used to test differences between urban and rural EDs. Multivariate analysis was performed to examine the association between a variety of hospital characteristics, in addition to rural location, and presence of child abuse resources. Findings: Fifty-five Oregon hospitals were surveyed. A smaller proportion of rural EDs had written abuse policies (62% vs 95%, P= .006) or on-site child abuse advocates (35% vs 71%, P= .009). Thirty-two percent of rural EDs had none of the examined abuse resources (vs 0% of urban EDs, P= .01). Of hospital characteristics studied in the multivariate model, only rural location was associated with decreased availability of child abuse resources (OR 0.19 [95% CI, 0.05-0.70]). Conclusions: Rural EDs have fewer resources than urban EDs for the management of child abuse. Other studied hospital characteristics were not associated with availability of abuse resources. Further work is needed to identify barriers to resource utilization and to create resources that can be made accessible to all ED settings.

Language: en