Most doctors believe that shaking a baby can possibly cause subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, coma or death, according to a results of a new study. Researchers surveyed 628 doctors who evaluate injured children at the United States' top 10 children's hospitals.
"Our study is the first to provide the much needed empiric confirmation that multidisciplinary physicians throughout the country overwhelmingly accept the validity of these diagnoses, and refutes the recent contention that there is this emerging 'groundswell' of physician opinion against the diagnoses," said Sandeep Narang, MD, JD, as per EurekAlert. Narang is the lead author and Division Head of Child Abuse Pediatrics at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Journal of Pediatrics today: Doctors believe in shaken baby so it must be real. https://t.co/6zlraWhblY via @EurekAlertAAAS
— Susan Goldsmith (@SGinvestigation) July 22, 2016
Doctor's Opinions On Shaken Baby Syndrome
PyschCentral reported that 88 percent of the surveyed doctors believe that shaken baby syndrome is a valid diagnosis. More than 80 percent of these doctors "responded that shaking with or without impact was likely or highly likely to produce subdural hematoma."
More than 90 percent of the doctors believed that shaking a baby could likely or highly likely to lead to severe retinal hemorrhage. Meanwhile, 78 percent of the doctors were of the opinion that shaking a baby is likely or highly likely to result in a coma or death. Narang said their findings showed that shaken baby syndrome is general accepted by doctors as a "dangerous form of abuse."
Shaken Baby Syndrome And Court Proceedings
A report from Daily Mail said that the study's findings is a "decisive blow to courts around the world, many of which still question the concept." The report added that courts depend on a medical expert's testimony to find out what brought about a child's injuries when dealing with child maltreatment cases.
"Claims of substantial controversy within the medical community about shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma have created a chilling effect on child protection hearings and criminal prosecutions," Narang said, as quoted in the report. Narang and his team's study was published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
