Risk of Postneonatal Infant Mortality Associated With Prior Founded Allegations of Child Abuse

Abstract

This study examined the association between prior reports of child abuse and subsequent postneonatal death and differences by cause of death, using data from the Chicago Infant Mortality Study (CIMS). CIMS included all sudden, unexplained infant deaths up to 1 year of age in Chicago (November 1993–April 1996), and age, race-ethnicity, and birthweight-matched living controls. Information on prior child abuse reports and outcomes was obtained through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) State Central Registry for each case and control. Conditional logistic regression modeling determined the odds of postneonatal death when there was a founded prior allegation. Families with founded allegations were almost 4 times more likely to have a child die during the postneonatal period (aOR = 3.79, 95% CI, 1.56, 9.10). Child protective services involvement is an opportunity for education on safe sleep messaging to help reduce the incidence of potentially preventable infant deaths.