TY - JOUR
PY - 2019//
TI - The adverse childhood experiences checklist: can it serve as a clinical and quality indicator?
JO - Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
A1 - Wickramasinghe, Yuanee
A1 - Raman, Shanti
A1 - Garg, Pankaj
A1 - Jain, Kalpesh
A1 - Hurwitz, Romy
SP - ePub
EP - ePub
VL - ePub
IS - ePub
N2 - AIM: There is strong evidence that adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are associated with poor short-, medium- and long-term health outcomes. In South Western Sydney, we trialled a modified ACE checklist in community paediatric clinics. Our aim was to design the best version of the ACE checklist for routine clinical use to serve as both a clinical and quality indicator.
METHODS: We trialled two versions of the modified ACE checklist based on a pre-existing tool in child development (CD) and vulnerable child (VC) clinics over a 6-month period in 2012 (V1) and 7-month period in 2017 (V2). We analysed clinical and demographic data and correlated with ACE scores. We asked clinicians about the use of the ACE checklist and modified the checklist based on clinicians' recommendations.
RESULTS: In phase 1, V1 was trialled in CD clinics only; 77 children were assessed, of whom 38 children (49%) had ACE score of ≥1, and 8 (10%) had a score of ≥4. In phase 2, of 279 children assessed, 178 (64%) had ACE ≥1, and 78 (28%) had ACE ≥4. In both phases, clinicians found the checklist simple to use and helpful in identifying especially vulnerable children.
CONCLUSIONS: The ACE checklist helps clinicians and managers identify the burden of exposure to trauma, violence and abuse of children attending paediatric clinics, both to facilitate intervention and aid service development. This version of the ACE checklist has the potential to be used across a variety of populations and settings as a clinical and quality indicator.
© 2019 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians). Language: en
LA - en
SN - 1034-4810
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14368
ID - ref1
ER -