Validity of Diagnostic and Procedure Codes in Administrative Data to Identify Pediatric Physical Abuse.

AI / informaticsPediatrics international : official journal of the Japan Pediatric Society· 2026

Validity of Diagnostic and Procedure Codes in Administrative Data to Identify Pediatric Physical Abuse.

Erika Obikane, Tomoko Nishino, Harumi Sonehara … Yusuke Okubo

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Child Abuse PediatricsAI / informaticsDiagnosisQ3IF 0.7

Combining X-ray and fundus exams detected pediatric physical abuse better than ICD-10 codes alone

Validity of Diagnostic and Procedure Codes in Administrative Data to Identify Pediatric Physical Abuse.

Erika Obikane … Yusuke Okubo

Pediatrics international · 2026 · Q3 in Pediatrics

Background

Many countries lack comprehensive systems or standardized use of diagnostic codes to track child abuse.

Purpose

This study evaluated the validity of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) diagnostic codes and developed algorithms to identify physical abuse using administrative data.

Methods

We analyzed children under 10 years hospitalized for injuries between April 2013 and March 2023 at a children's hospital in Japan.

n = 1375 injury cases

Results

combined imaging correctly identified most physical abuse cases, missing about a quarter

Sensitivity 73.60 (95% CI 59.70 to 84.70)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Among 1375 injury cases, 53 involved physical abuse, but only one used an abuse-specific ICD-10 code, indicating limited reliability.

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Conclusion

ICD-10 codes alone are insufficient for identifying physical abuse combining specific procedures may improve case identification for future epidemiological surveillance.

Validity of Diagnostic and Procedure Codes in Administrative Data to Identify Pediatric Physical Abuse.

Validity of Diagnostic and Procedure Codes in Administrative Data to Identify Pediatric Physical Abuse.

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