Proposal of an exploitation method of a national database, the PMSI, to estimate the frequency of the abused children in France, from 0 to 5 years old, their lethality and the characteristics of their hospital stays

Les situations de maltraitances à enfants sont nombreuses et les conséquences peuvent être dramatiques. Le nombre d’enfants maltraités en France est très probablement sous-estimé par le sous-repérage de ces enfants et le manque de données épidémiologiques. Nous proposons une méthode innovante de repérage rétrospectif des situations de maltraitances physiques à enfants et de leurs conséquences, en termes de mortalité, retentissement somatique ou psychiatrique et consommation de soins, à partir de grandes bases de données nationales existantes : le Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d’Information (PMSI) et le Système Nationale d’Information Inter-Régimes de l’Assurance Maladie (SNIIRAM). Les données de la base nationale du PMSI permettront de fournir un ordre de grandeur de la fréquence des maltraitances physiques faites aux enfants au niveau national et régional. Pour approcher cette valeur, nous souhaitons l’encadrer par une borne supérieure et une borne inférieure. Nous avons pensé que la borne inférieure pourrait correspondre aux cas de maltraitances physiques codées comme telles dans le PMSI, dont nous savons qu’ils sont sous-déclarés. La borne supérieure correspondrait à la somme de ces cas et de tous ceux susceptibles de l’être. Les cas susceptibles de représenter des situations de maltraitance à enfant (ou cas potentiels) ont été identifiés par le repérage de caractéristiques particulières des lésions traumatiques et de l’âge de l’enfant sur son ou ses séjours hospitaliers. Le Système National d'Information Inter-Régimes de l'Assurance maladie (SNIIRAM) rassemble des données individuelles des bénéficiaires, depuis 2004. Ces données sont l’âge, le sexe, la commune de résidence, l’existence d’une affection de longue durée (ALD), le bénéfice de la couverture universelle complémentaire (CMU-C), le statut vital et la consommation de soin en ville. L’analyse du SNIIRAM permettra ainsi de retracer le parcours des patients selon la pathologie présentée. Dans le cas des enfants repérés comme étant maltraités, il semble intéressant de pouvoir décrire les pathologies somatique et psychiatrique associées et de les comparer aux pathologies présentées par les enfants non repérés comme étant maltraités. Ce retentissement pourra être décrit via les codes ALD (concernant les affections de longues durées), mais également via les données de consommation de médicaments et d’autres prestations.Importance: Childhood abuse is a global public health issue yet there is a serious lack of reliable epidemiological data and the figures reported are very often underestimated. A large part of these children are not diagnosed. Moreover, diagnosed children are not recorded in a single database.Objective: The aim of this study is to provide two estimations of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization (hospital prevalence) and the corresponding in-hospital fatality. Design, setting and participants: This was a national retrospective study using a national hospital database (PMSI).We included all children aged less than 2 years old hospitalized at least once in France from 2007 to 2014. Infants less than 1 month old were excluded in order to exclude all pathologies and neonatal complications.Three groups were defined: group1 - physically abused children (identified by the ICD 10 codes used in the PMSI concerning physical abuse); group2 - possible physically abused children (suspicious physical injuries associated with child maltreatment); and group3 - all other hospitalized children (the control group).Main outcomes and measurements: First, based on the number of children aged 0 to 2 years in France in 2010, we provide two estimations of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization (hospital prevalence): a lower bound represented by the children of group 1 and an upper bound represented by the children of group 1+2.Secondly, we studied the follow-up of these children from their inclusion to 2014, thanks to the linkage of the differents hospital stays; with regard to the number of hospitalizations, their length of stay, their reasons and in-hospital fatality.Results: In our study, 2,628,386 children were included: 4,172 in group1, 12,024 in group2 and 2,612,190 in group3. The national annual hospital prevalence of child physical abuse (and hospital fatality) in children aged 0 to 2 years ranged from 1.6‰ (2.52%) to 5.7‰ (2.01%). Most hospital deaths occurred during the first hospital stay (between 99% and 99.6%) and are 10 times higher than in the control group. The length of stay of abused children is up to 5 times longer than for other children. Conclusions and relevance: To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an estimation of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization and the corresponding in-hospital fatality. Three out of four children may not be identified as being maltreated and are at risk of recurrent abuses. More effective prevention should be implemented by health professionals in order to identify those children

Proposition d'une méthode d'exploitation d'une base de donnée nationale, le PMSI, pour estimer la fréquence des enfants maltraités en France, âgés de 0 à 5 ans, leur taux de létalité hospitalière et les caractéristiques de leurs séjours hospitaliers

Importance: Childhood abuse is a global public health issue yet there is a serious lack of reliable epidemiological data and the figures reported are very often underestimated. A large part of these children are not diagnosed. Moreover, diagnosed children are not recorded in a single database.Objective: The aim of this study is to provide two estimations of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization (hospital prevalence) and the corresponding in-hospital fatality. Design, setting and participants: This was a national retrospective study using a national hospital database (PMSI).We included all children aged less than 2 years old hospitalized at least once in France from 2007 to 2014. Infants less than 1 month old were excluded in order to exclude all pathologies and neonatal complications.Three groups were defined: group1 - physically abused children (identified by the ICD 10 codes used in the PMSI concerning physical abuse); group2 - possible physically abused children (suspicious physical injuries associated with child maltreatment); and group3 - all other hospitalized children (the control group).Main outcomes and measurements: First, based on the number of children aged 0 to 2 years in France in 2010, we provide two estimations of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization (hospital prevalence): a lower bound represented by the children of group 1 and an upper bound represented by the children of group 1+2.Secondly, we studied the follow-up of these children from their inclusion to 2014, thanks to the linkage of the differents hospital stays; with regard to the number of hospitalizations, their length of stay, their reasons and in-hospital fatality.Results: In our study, 2,628,386 children were included: 4,172 in group1, 12,024 in group2 and 2,612,190 in group3. The national annual hospital prevalence of child physical abuse (and hospital fatality) in children aged 0 to 2 years ranged from 1.6‰ (2.52%) to 5.7‰ (2.01%). Most hospital deaths occurred during the first hospital stay (between 99% and 99.6%) and are 10 times higher than in the control group. The length of stay of abused children is up to 5 times longer than for other children. Conclusions and relevance: To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an estimation of the frequency of child physical abuse requiring hospitalization and the corresponding in-hospital fatality. Three out of four children may not be identified as being maltreated and are at risk of recurrent abuses. More effective prevention should be implemented by health professionals in order to identify those children.Les situations de maltraitances à enfants sont nombreuses et les conséquences peuvent être dramatiques. Le nombre d’enfants maltraités en France est très probablement sous-estimé par le sous-repérage de ces enfants et le manque de données épidémiologiques. Nous proposons une méthode innovante de repérage rétrospectif des situations de maltraitances physiques à enfants et de leurs conséquences, en termes de mortalité, retentissement somatique ou psychiatrique et consommation de soins, à partir de grandes bases de données nationales existantes : le Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d’Information (PMSI) et le Système Nationale d’Information Inter-Régimes de l’Assurance Maladie (SNIIRAM). Les données de la base nationale du PMSI permettront de fournir un ordre de grandeur de la fréquence des maltraitances physiques faites aux enfants au niveau national et régional. Pour approcher cette valeur, nous souhaitons l’encadrer par une borne supérieure et une borne inférieure. Nous avons pensé que la borne inférieure pourrait correspondre aux cas de maltraitances physiques codées comme telles dans le PMSI, dont nous savons qu’ils sont sous-déclarés. La borne supérieure correspondrait à la somme de ces cas et de tous ceux susceptibles de l’être. Les cas susceptibles de représenter des situations de maltraitance à enfant (ou cas potentiels) ont été identifiés par le repérage de caractéristiques particulières des lésions traumatiques et de l’âge de l’enfant sur son ou ses séjours hospitaliers. Le Système National d'Information Inter-Régimes de l'Assurance maladie (SNIIRAM) rassemble des données individuelles des bénéficiaires, depuis 2004. Ces données sont l’âge, le sexe, la commune de résidence, l’existence d’une affection de longue durée (ALD), le bénéfice de la couverture universelle complémentaire (CMU-C), le statut vital et la consommation de soin en ville. L’analyse du SNIIRAM permettra ainsi de retracer le parcours des patients selon la pathologie présentée. Dans le cas des enfants repérés comme étant maltraités, il semble intéressant de pouvoir décrire les pathologies somatique et psychiatrique associées et de les comparer aux pathologies présentées par les enfants non repérés comme étant maltraités. Ce retentissement pourra être décrit via les codes ALD (concernant les affections de longues durées), mais également via les données de consommation de médicaments et d’autres prestations

Maltraitance envers les enfants et Covid-19

En France, au début de l’année 2020, environ 690 000 vies ont pu être épargnées grâce au confinement général de la population et aux mesures restrictives de lutte contre la Covid-19. Conséquence inattendue, ces mesures ont eu un impact sur une autre frange vulnérable de la population : celle des jeunes enfants, pour lesquels il a été démontré une augmentation des maltraitances subies à cette période. À partir de données de la littérature et de l’apport de nos travaux de recherche dans le domaine, nous proposons une documentation de cette crise des violences intra-familiales, intriquée dans la crise sanitaire de la Covid-19

Hospitalization for physical child abuse: Associated medical factors and medical history since birth

International audienceBackground: Physical abuse often begins at a very young age and sometimes results in serious or fatal injuries. It is crucial to diagnose physical abuse as early as possible to protect this vulnerable population. Objective: To study the factors associated with the first hospitalization for physical abuse from birth to the infant's first birthday in France. Participants and setting: We included all singleton children born in a hospital setting in France between 2009 and 2013, who were identified from the French national information system database (SNDS). Methods: To study factors associated with the first hospitalization for physical abuse during the first year after birth, we used the Fine and Gray regression model. Factors included in the multivariate model were the infant's sex, prematurity, neonatal conditions, the number of hospitalizations (at least two), medical consultations and complementary universal health insurance (proxy for family precariousness and socio-economic vulnerability). Results: Over the 2009–2013 period, among 3,432,921 newborn singletons, 903 (0.026 %) were hospitalized for physical abuse in the year following birth. Among the factors associated with physical abuse, such as prematurity (aHR = 2.2[1.8–2.7]), male sex (aHR = 1.3[1.2–1.5]), or having had at least two hospitalizations (aHR = 1.7[1.4–2.1]), we found that complementary universal health insurance coverage was the factor most associated (aHR = 4.1[3.5–4.7]) with being hospitalized for physical abuse. Conclusion: These findings could help introduce preventative measures for infant protection in certain groups, such as parents of infants born prematurely, especially if they are in a precarious situation. This study also suggests that particular attention should be paid to infants who have been hospitalized at least two times in the first year of life, whatever the reason

Physical abuse of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alarming increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations during the lockdown period

International audienceBackground: In France, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a general lockdown from mid-March to mid-May 2020, forcing families to remain confined. We hypothesized that children may have been victims of more physical abuse during the lockdown, involving an increase in the relative frequency of hospitalization. Methods: Using the national administrative database on all admissions to public and private hospitals (PMSI), we selected all children aged 0–5 years hospitalized and identified physically abused children based on ICD-10 codes. We included 844,227 children hospitalized in March–April 2017–2020, of whom 476 (0.056%) were admitted for physical abuse. Relative frequency of hospitalization for physical abuse observed in March to April 2020 were compared with those from the same months in the three previous years (2017–2019). Findings: Even if absolute number of children exposed to physical abuse did not fluctuate significantly, we found a significant increase in the relative frequency of young children hospitalized for physical abuse from 2017 (0.053%) to 2020 (0.073%). Compared with the 2017–2019 period, and considering the observed decrease in the number of overall hospital admissions during the first lockdown, the number of children exposed to physical violence was 40% superior to what would be expected. Interpretation: The sharp increase in the relative frequency of hospitalizations for physical abuse in children aged 0–5 years in France is alarming. As only the most severe cases were brought to the hospital for treatment during the lockdown, our figures probably only represent the tip of the iceberg of a general increase of violence against young children

Estimation in the progressive illness-death model: a nonexhaustive review

Multistate models can be successfully used for describing complex event history data, for example, describing stages in the disease progression of a patient. The so‐called “illness‐death” model plays a central role in the theory and practice of these models. Many time‐to‐event datasets from medical studies with multiple end points can be reduced to this generic structure. In these models one important goal is the modeling of transition rates but biomedical researchers are also interested in reporting interpretable results in a simple and summarized manner. These include estimates of predictive probabilities, such as the transition probabilities, occupation probabilities, cumulative incidence functions, and the sojourn time distributions. We will give a review of some of the available methods for estimating such quantities in the progressive illness‐death model conditionally (or not) on covariate measures. For some of these quantities estimators based on subsampling are employed. Subsampling, also referred to as landmarking, leads to small sample sizes and usually to heavily censored data leading to estimators with higher variability. To overcome this issue estimators based on a preliminary estimation (presmoothing) of the probability of censoring may be used. Among these, the presmoothed estimators for the cumulative incidences are new. We also introduce feasible estimation methods for the cumulative incidence function conditionally on covariate measures. The proposed methods are illustrated using real data. A comparative simulation study of several estimation approaches is performed and existing software in the form of R packages is discussed.This research was financed by Portuguese Funds through FCT - “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia,” within the research grant SFRH/BPD/93928/2013. Luís Meira-Machado acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through project MTM2017-82379-R funded by (AEI/FEDER, UE) and acronym “AFTERAM.” Thanks to the Associate Editor and two anonymous referees for comments and suggestions that have improved the presentation of the paper