Interventions to prevent child maltreatment: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement

Importance: In 2016, approximately 676000 children in the United States experienced maltreatment (abuse, neglect, or both), with 75% of these children experiencing neglect, 18% experiencing physical abuse, and 8% experiencing sexual abuse. Approximately 14% of abused children experienced multiple forms of maltreatment, and more than 1700 children died as a result of maltreatment.

Objective: To update the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) 2013 recommendation on primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment.

Evidence Review: The USPSTF commissioned a review of the evidence on primary care interventions to prevent maltreatment in children and adolescents without signs or symptoms of maltreatment.

Findings: The USPSTF found limited and inconsistent evidence on the benefits of primary care interventions, including home visitation programs, to prevent child maltreatment and found no evidence related to the harms of such interventions. The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment. The level of certainty of the magnitude of the benefits and harms of these interventions is low.

Conclusions and Recommendation: The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment. (I statement).