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Objectives In this large scale, mixed methods evaluation, we determined the impact and context of early childhood home visiting on rates of child abuse-related injury. Methods Entropy-balanced and propensity score matched retrospective cohort analysis comparing children of Pennsylvania Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), Parents As Teachers (PAT), and Early Head Start (EHS) enrollees and children of Pennsylvania Medicaid eligible women from 2008 to 2014. Abuse-related injury episodes were identified in medical assistance claims with ICD-9 codes. Weighted frequencies and logistic regression odds of injury within 24 months are presented. In-depth interviews with staff and clients (n = 150) from 11 programs were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Results The odds of a healthcare encounter for early childhood abuse among clients were significantly greater than comparison children (NFP: 1.32, 95% CI [1.08, 1.62]; PAT: 4.11, 95% CI [1.60, 10.55]; EHS: 3.15, 95% CI [1.41, 7.06]). Qualitative data illustrated the circumstances of and program response to client issues related to child maltreatment, highlighting the role of non-client caregivers. All stakeholders described curricular content aimed at prevention (e.g. positive parenting) with little time dedicated to addressing current or past abuse. Clients who reported a lack of abuse-related content supposed their home visitor's assumption of an absence of risk in their home, but were supportive of the introduction of abuse-related content. Approach, acceptance, and available resources were mediators of successfully addressing abuse. Conclusions for Practice Home visiting aims to prevent child abuse among high-risk families. Adequate home visitor capacity to proactively assess abuse risk, deliver effective preventive curriculum with fidelity to caregivers, and access appropriate resources is necessary., Author(s): M. Matone [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.8] , K. Kellom [sup.1] , H. Griffis [sup.1] , W. Quarshie [sup.1] , J. Faerber [sup.1] , P. Gierlach [sup.1] , J. Whittaker [...]

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound is an invaluable bedside tool for anesthesiologists and has been integrated into anesthesiology residency training and board certification in the United States. Little is known about point-of-care ultrasound training practices in pediatric anesthesia fellowship programs., Aims: To describe the current state of point-of-care ultrasound education in pediatric anesthesia fellowship programs in the United States., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey study distributed to 60 American Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited pediatric anesthesia fellowship programs. Two programs were in their initial accreditation period and were excluded due to lack of historical data. Program directors or associate program directors were invited to complete this 23-item survey., Results: Thirty-three of fifty-eight programs (57%) completed the survey. Of those, 15 programs (45%) reported having a point-of-care ultrasound curriculum. Programs with ≤3 fellows per year were less likely to have an ultrasound curriculum compared to programs with ≥4 fellows per year (30% programs 0-3 fellows/year vs. 69% programs ≥4 fellows/year, odds ratio 0.19 [95% confidence intervals 0.04-0.87]; p = .03). Program directors and associate program directors rated point-of-care ultrasound training as highly valuable to fellows' education. Barriers to use most commonly included lack of experience (64%), lack of oversight/interpretive guidance (58%), and lack of time (45%). Programs without point-of-care ultrasound training had significantly higher odds of listing lack of ultrasound access as a primary barrier (50% programs without vs. 13% programs with, odds ratio 6.5, [95% confidence intervals 1.3-50]; p = .04)., Conclusions: This observational survey-based study suggests that fewer than half of pediatric anesthesia training programs in the United States offer point-of-care ultrasound education. Additional research is needed to optimize this education and training in pediatric anesthesia fellowship programs., (© 2024 The Authors. Pediatric Anesthesia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Parents of children in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) are often unprepared for family meetings (FM). Clinicians often do not follow best practices for communicating with families, adding to distress. An interprofessional team intervention for FM is feasible, acceptable, and positively impacts family preparation and conduct of FM in the CICU. We implemented a family- and team-support intervention for conducting FM and conducted a pretest-posttest study with parents of patients selected for a FM and clinicians. We measured feasibility, fidelity to intervention protocol, and parent acceptability via questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Clinician behavior in meetings was assessed through semantic content analyses of meeting transcripts tracking elicitation of parental concerns, questions asked of parents, and responses to parental empathic opportunities. Logistic and ordinal logistic regression assessed intervention impact on clinician communication behaviors in meetings comparing pre- and post-intervention data. Sixty parents (95% of approached) were enrolled, with collection of 97% FM and 98% questionnaire data. We accomplished > 85% fidelity to intervention protocol. Most parents (80%) said the preparation worksheet had the right amount of information and felt positive about families receiving this worksheet. Clinicians were more likely to elicit parental concerns (adjusted odds ratio = 3.42; 95%CI [1.13, 11.0]) in post-intervention FM. There were no significant differences in remaining measures. Implementing an interprofessional team intervention to improve family preparation and conduct of FM is locally feasible, acceptable, and changes clinician behaviors. Future research should assess broader impact of training on clinicians, patients, and families., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Myocarditis is a common cause of pediatric heart failure which may require mechanical circulatory support (MCS). The purpose of this study is to describe MCS strategies used in a nationwide cohort of pediatric patients with myocarditis, identify trends over time, and compare outcomes between MCS strategies., Methods: This study utilized the Kids' Inpatient Database (KID), a national sample of administrative discharge data. KID admissions from 2003-2016 were queried using ICD-9/10 codes to identify those with a diagnosis of myocarditis. MCS outcomes were compared using logistic regression., Results: Of 5,661 admissions for myocarditis, MCS was used in 424 (7.5%), comprised of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in 312 (73.6%), including 32 (10.2%) instances of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), temporary ventricular assist devices (tVAD) in 28 (6.6%), durable VAD (dVAD) in 42 (9.9%) and combination MCS in 42 (9.9%). MCS use increased over time (p=0.031), but MCS strategies did not significantly change. Mortality was high in the MCS group (28.3%). There was no difference in odds of death in the VAD only or combination MCS group compared to the non-ECPR ECMO group (p=0.07 and p=0.65, respectively)., Conclusion: MCS is used in 1 in 13 pediatric myocarditis cases, and MCS use is increasing over time with ECMO remaining the most frequently used modality. Mortality remains high in patients that receive MCS but does not differ between those receiving VAD or combination MCS as compared to non-ECPR ECMO on unadjusted analysis. Further prospective analysis is required to evaluate the relative effectiveness of MCS modalities in this disease.

Objective: To determine the difference in rate of weight gain from birth to 5 years based on exposure to maternal group B streptococcal (GBS) intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP)., Design: Retrospective cohort study of 13 804 infants., Setting: Two perinatal centres and a primary paediatric care network in Philadelphia., Participants: Term infants born 2007-2012, followed longitudinally from birth to 5 years of age., Exposures: GBS IAP defined as penicillin, ampicillin, cefazolin, clindamycin or vancomycin administered ≥4 hours prior to delivery to the mother. Reference infants were defined as born to mothers without (vaginal delivery) or with other (caesarean delivery) intrapartum antibiotic exposure., Outcomes: Difference in rate of weight change from birth to 5 years was assessed using longitudinal rate regression. Analysis was a priori stratified by delivery mode and adjusted for relevant covariates., Results: GBS IAP was administered to mothers of 2444/13 804 (17.7%) children. GBS IAP-exposed children had a significantly elevated rate of weight gain in the first 5 years among vaginally-born (adjusted rate difference 1.44% (95% CI 0.3% to 2.6%)) and caesarean-born (3.52% (95% CI 1.9% to 5.2%)) children. At 5 years, the rate differences equated to an additional 0.24 kg among vaginally-born children and 0.60 kg among caesarean-born children., Conclusion: GBS-specific IAP was associated with a modest increase in rate of early childhood weight gain. GBS IAP is an effective intervention to prevent perinatal GBS disease-associated morbidity and mortality. However, these findings highlight the need to better understand effects of intrapartum antibiotic exposure on childhood growth and support efforts to develop alternate prevention strategies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to describe analgesia administration between neurotypical (NT) individuals and those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosed with appendicitis or long bone fractures in the emergency department (ED). A secondary objective was to compare the rates of complicated appendicitis as a proxy for delayed diagnosis between the groups., Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System database. Study participants were children aged 6 to 18 years with ASD and with an ED visit for appendicitis or fracture between 2004 and 2015 who were matched to demographically similar NT children. Children with a developmental disorder and/or complex chronic condition were excluded. Coarsened exact matching and logistic regression were used to investigate the association between ASD status and opioid and non-opioid medication receipt. Comparison of the rates of complicated appendicitis in children with ASD and NT children was conducted before matching., Results: From 2004 to 2015, 126,412 children with appendicitis and 392,151 children with long bone fractures were identified. Of these, 889 children had a diagnosis of ASD and were matched to 35,672 NT controls with appendicitis. In addition, 2117 children with ASD were matched to 200,635 NT controls with long bone fractures. Receipt of opioids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was not found to be significantly different between the 2 groups. However, a larger proportion of children with ASD presented with complicated appendicitis compared with NT controls (37.1% vs 29.9%, respectively; p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Receipt of analgesia did not differ significantly between populations of ASD and NT peers. Children with ASD have increased rates of complex appendicitis, possibly suggesting limited access to care or provider difficulty in evaluating this patient population.

Background: Home visiting programs represent an important primary prevention strategy for adverse prenatal health behaviors; the various ways in which home visiting programs impact prenatal smoking cessation and reduction behaviors remain understudied., Methods: Mixed methods approach using a retrospective cohort of propensity score matched home visiting clients and local-area comparison women with first births between 2008-2014 in a large Northeast state. Multivariable logistic and linear regression estimated third trimester prenatal tobacco smoking cessation and reduction. Additionally, qualitative interviews were conducted with 76 home visiting clients., Results: A program effect was seen for smoking cessation such that clients who smoked less than ten cigarettes per day and those who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day during the first trimester were more likely to achieve third trimester cessation than comparison women (p <0.01 and p = 0.01, respectively). Only for heavy smokers (20 or more cigarettes during the first trimester) was there a significant reduction in number of cigarettes smoked by the third trimester versus comparison women (p = 0.01). Clients expressed the difficulty of cessation, but addressed several harm-reduction strategies including reducing smoking in the house and wearing a smoking jacket. Clients also described smoking education that empowered them to ask others to not smoke or adopt other harm reducing behaviors when around their children., Conclusions: While a significant impact on smoking cessation was seen, this study finds a less-clear impact on smoking reduction among women in home visiting programs. As home visiting programs continue to expand, it will be important to best identify effective ways to support tobacco-related harm reduction within vulnerable families.

Introduction: With the advent and availability of targeted therapy, the treatment of advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) underwent a drastic change in 2005. The effect of this change on clinical outcome within the population has not been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the overall survival (OS), before, and after availability of targeted therapy, for advanced RCC cases in the population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry., Materials and Methods: All advanced (regional and distant stage) RCC cases diagnosed within the 2000 to 2008 time periods were included. Because SEER does not report the exact therapy, and because targeted therapy was initially approved in 2005, we evaluated and compared the OS outcomes of advanced RCC cases diagnosed between the years 2000 and 2003 (before targeted therapy era) with that of those diagnosed between 2005 and 2008 (targeted therapy era)., Results: There was a significant improvement in OS for advanced RCC patients treated in the targeted therapy era (n = 12,330) compared with those treated in the era before targeted therapy (n =11,565) (median OS 20 months vs. 15 months, P = .0006). Multivariate analysis revealed that in the time period before targeted therapy, age older than 65 years, black race, and lack of nephrectomy were predictors of a shorter OS., Conclusion: In univariate and multivariate analysis, targeted therapy demonstrated improvement in OS. Increasing access to targeted therapies is likely to improve outcomes in advanced RCC., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)