• Hester M Diderich, Mark Dechesne, Minne Fekkes, Paul H Verkerk, Simone E Buitendijk, and Anne-Marie Oudesluys-Murphy.
• aEmergency Department, Medical Centre Haaglanden bCampus The Hague, Leiden University, The Hague cDepartment of Child Health, TNO dWomen's and Family Health eSocial Pediatrics, Willem-Alexander Children's Hospital, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2015 Aug 1;22(4):279-81.

AbstractThe Hague Protocol considers three parental characteristics of Emergency Department adult patients to identify child abuse: (a) domestic violence, (b) intoxication, and (c) suicide attempt or auto mutilation. This study investigated whether additional parental characteristics could be included to improve the chance of detection. Using a nested case-control design, we compared parents identified as child abusers who were missed by the Protocol with a matched group of nonabusing parents. The parental characteristics used were, among others, all physical injuries possibly resulting from domestic violence, psychological, or mental complaints that might indicate elevated domestic stress levels and the number of Emergency Department visits during the previous year. None of the characteristics were statistically significantly associated with child abuse. The Hague Protocol will not be improved by adding one or more of the characteristics that were investigated.

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