Medical child abuse, or factitious disorder imposed on another person, is the infliction of illness or injury by one individual onto another. Formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, this terminology has fallen out of use due to its focus on the perpetrator. The term medical child abuse, conversely, focuses on the harm that comes to the child regardless of the motivation or intent of the perpetrator; even if the perpetrator does not mean to inflict harm, the fact is they do.

Clinical presentation can vary widely, as affected individuals can appear as injured or ill from any number of diseases, but commonly these patients are high utilizers of the health care system who have symptoms that are not well explained by a known medical condition. Children affected by medical child abuse can present with fabricated or inflicted medical illness by their caregiver, and they are consequentially subject to extensive medical testing and treatment.

There are different types of medical child abuse, including:

• Exaggerated illness
• Fabricated illness
• Induced illness

Medical child abuse may involve one or more types, individually or simultaneously, with or without escalation over time.

Many patients will improve during hospital observation but worsen after discharge when they return to their abusive environment.

Related topics: factitious disorders, physical child abuse