Severity of head computed tomography scan findings fail to explain racial differences in mortality following child abuse.
BACKGROUND
Differences in head injury severity may not be fully appreciated in child abuse victims. The purpose of this study was to determine if differential findings on initial head computed tomography (CT) scan could explain observed differential outcome by race.


METHODS
We identified 164 abuse patients from our trauma registry with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) > or = 15. Their initial head CT scan was graded from 1 to 4 (normal to severe). Statistical analysis was performed to asses the correlation between race, head CT grade, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and mortality.


RESULTS
Overall mortality was 17%: 11% for white children, 32% for African-American children (P < .05). In review of the head CT scans there was no difference by race in types of injuries or head CT grade. Using a multivariate regression model, African-American race remained an independent risk factor for mortality with an odd ratio of 4.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-11.5).


CONCLUSIONS
African-American children had a significantly higher mortality rate despite similar findings on initial head CT scans. Factors other than injury severity may explain these disparate outcomes.
Martin
Colin A
CA
Division of Pediatric and Thoracic Surgery, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Surgery, University of Cincinnati, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA.
Care
Marguerite
M
Rangel
Erika L
EL
Brown
Rebeccah L
RL
Garcia
Victor F
VF
Falcone
Richard A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data