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Background: Limited knowledge exists as to the supports and services young people with IDD and co-occurring mental health conditions need to transition to adult-focused health care and adulthood. Methods: The survey findings presented were part of a larger investigation that explored these service and supports needs obtained from 144 respondents. Data reported for this investigation were obtained from 144 respondents who answered the question, “What do you think would be most helpful to assist young people with IDD and mental health conditions with the transition from child to adult health care (not including mental health care)?''Qualitative analysis based upon the social-ecological model was undertaken. Findings: Based on the social-ecological model (SEM), health care transition needs were reported in four of the five SEM domains-Individual, Family, Provider, and Systems Level. The responses were most frequently categorized in the SEM domains in following descending order: Individual, Provider, System and Family. Conclusion: Implications for research and practice suggest that multi-level approach is needed to address the range of service needs for young adults with IDD and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Background: Childhood obesity continues to be a substantial problem despite major public health efforts, and disproportionately impacts children from low-income families. Digital health tools and consumer technology offer promising opportunities for interventions, but few studies have evaluated how they might be incorporated into existing interventions or used to create new types of interventions. It remains unclear which approaches would be most beneficial for underserved pediatric populations. Purpose: To describe the design and rationale of a single-center randomized, controlled trial evaluating the effects of personal activity tracker (PAT) use by parents on weight-status improvement in both parents and overweight children enrolled in BodyWorks (BW), a comprehensive behavioral family-lifestyle intervention program (CBFLI), in a primary-care clinic serving a predominantly low-income Latino population. Methods: This study is being conducted in the AltaMed general pediatrics clinic at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Eligible participants are families (child and adult caregiver) in which the child is between 7 and 18 years of age, has a BMI ≥85th percentile for age and sex, and has been referred to BW by their AltaMed pediatrician. BW consists of one weekly, two-hour session for 7 weeks. In a given cycle, the program is offered on two separate nights: Monday (Spanish) and Wednesday (English). Families self sort into one of two groups based on language preference. To ensure balanced allocation of language preference groups and prevent in-group cross contamination, block randomization is used to assign whole groups to either the intervention or control arms of the study. The control arm consists of usual care, while the intervention arm adds assigning a Fitbit PAT to the parents and training them in its proper use. Study personnel are blinded to group assignment during the analysis phase. Study outcomes include attendance rate, program completion rate, and changes in weight-status improvement, defined as change in weight and BMI for adults and change in BMI z-score for children. We hypothesize that the intervention arm will have better weight-related outcomes than the control arm. Study completion is anticipated in 2017, after the enrollment of approximately 150 families. Conclusions: The study aim is to evaluate the effects of PATs on weight-related outcomes in overweight children and parents participating in a CBFLI. The results will be important for determining whether wearable devices are an effective addition to weight loss interventions for overweight and obese children. Keywords: Childhood obesity, Fitbit, Physical activity, Activity monitor, Family-based intervention, Wearable devices

Background: Infants with prematurity, low birthweight, and medical comorbidities are at high risk for developmental delays and neurodevelopmental disabilities and require close monitoring. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, high-risk infant follow-up (HRIF) programs have adapted to perform developmental assessments via telehealth., Objectives: Describe the referral rates to initiate, continue, or increase/add early intervention (EI) therapies based on in-person use of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 4th Edition (BSID-IV) or telehealth use of the Developmental Assessment in Young Children, 2nd Edition (DAYC-2)., Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 203 patients seen in the HRIF program at an academic medical center in Southern California. Patients were divided into in-person (BSID-IV) and telehealth (DAYC-2) assessment groups. Statistical analyses were performed to describe demographic characteristics, medical information, and referral rates for EI therapies by the types of visits., Results: The in-person and telehealth groups demonstrated similar demographic and clinical characteristics and comparable referral rates for initiating EI therapies. Telehealth patients already receiving therapies were recommended to increase/add EI therapies at a higher rate compared to in-person patients., Conclusions: The BSID-IV is widely used to assess for developmental delays in the high-risk infant population, but in-person administration of this tool poses limitations on its accessibility. Telehealth administration of an alternative tool, such as the DAYC-2, can lead to similar EI referral rates as in-person administration of the BSID-IV. Increased use of telehealth developmental assessments can promote timely detection of developmental delays and minimize gaps in healthcare access., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this paper have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: The Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation Committee of the National Academy of Sciences in 2005 and other expert panels have warned that risk of cancer increases with higher doses of radiation. Children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus have far greater exposure to radiation than the average person, starting almost directly after birth and continuing throughout their lifetimes., Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the amount of ionizing radiation that patients with spina bifida and hydrocephalus are exposed to during childhood from diagnostic imaging., Methods: Thirty patients, ages 18 years or older, with spina bifida and hydrocephalus were randomly selected from a spina bifida clinic and their radiology records were reviewed. Descriptive analyses were conducted. The total radiation exposure was then calculated for the study group, and the mean effective dose per patient was determined., Results: In the study group, during their first 18 years, each patient had a mean of 55.1 studies and a median of 45 radiologic studies, a mean of 9.6 brain CT scans, and a mean cumulative effective dose of 81.9 mSv (2.6 mSv/patient/year over 18 years) and a median cumulative effective dose of 77.2 mSV of accumulated radiation exposure (4.5 mSv/patient/year over 18 years)., Conclusions: Clinicians should recognize that increased radiation exposure puts patients with spina bifida and hydrocephalus at higher risk for cancer. The population of children and adults with spina bifida and hydrocephalus should be surveyed for incidence of cancer., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)