Association Between Residential Rurality and Diagnostic Imaging Use in Pediatric Dog-Bite Encounters: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Pediatric Health Information System Study (2021-2022)

Rural residence was associated with higher imaging use in pediatric dog-bite encounters at children's hospitals. These observational findings are hypothesis-generating; differences may reflect practice patterns, case-mix, or selection rather than causation. Absolute differences were modest, suggesting system-level relevance but limited impact for most individual encounters.