Screening for Problematic Sleep in a Diverse Sample of Infants.

OBJECTIVE: To examine screening strategies for identifying problematic sleep in a diverse sample of infants. METHODS: Parents of infants (5-19 months; N = 3,271) presenting for a primary care visit responded to five screening items and the Infant Sleep Questionnaire (ISQ), a validated measure of problematic infant sleep. If parents responded affirmatively to any screening item, primary care providers received a prompt to evaluate. For each of the screening questions, we examined differences in item endorsement and criterion related validity with the ISQ. Using conceptual composites of night waking and sleep difficulty, prevalence, criterion-related validity, and concurrent demographic correlates were analyzed. RESULTS: Infants were primarily of Black race (50.1%) or Hispanic ethnicity (31.7%), with the majority (63.3%) living in economically distressed communities. Rates of problematic sleep ranged from 7.4%, for a single item assessing parental perception of an infant having a sleep problem, to 74.0%, for a single item assessing night wakings requiring adult intervention. Items assessing sleep difficulty had high (95.0-97.8%) agreement with the ISQ in identifying infants without problematic sleep, but low agreement (24.9-34.0%) in identifying those with problematic sleep. The opposite was true for items assessing night waking, which identified 91.0-94.6% of those with sleep problems but only 31.8-46.9% of those without. CONCLUSIONS: Screening strategies for identifying problematic infant sleep yielded highly variable prevalence rates and associated factors, depending on whether the strategy emphasized parent-perceived sleep difficulty or night wakings. The strategy that is most appropriate will depend on the system's goals.

Cost Minimization Analysis of Same-Day Long-Acting Reversible Contraception for Adolescents.

Importance: Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is considered first-line contraception for adolescents but often requires multiple clinic visits to obtain. Objective: To analyze Indiana Medicaid's cost savings associated with providing adolescents with same-day access to LARC. Design, Setting, and Participants: An economic evaluation of cost minimization from the payer's (Medicaid) perspective was performed from August 2017 through August 2018. The cost model examined the anticipated outcome of providing LARC at the first visit compared with requiring a second visit for placement. The costs and probabilities of clinic visits, devices, device insertions and removals, unintended pregnancy, and births, according to previously published sources, were incorporated into the model. The participants were payers (Medicaid). Main Outcomes and Measures: The outcomes were the cost of same-day LARC placement vs LARC placement at a subsequent visit in US dollars, and rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion. One-way sensitivity analysis was done. Results: Same-day LARC placement was associated with lower overall costs ($2016 per patient over 1 year) compared with LARC placement at a subsequent visit ($4133 per patient over 1 year). Compared with the return-visit strategy, same-day LARC was associated with an unintended pregnancy rate of 14% vs 48% and an abortion rate of 4% vs 14%. Conclusions and Relevance: Providing same-day LARC could save costs for Medicaid, largely by preventing unintended pregnancy. Expected cost savings could be used to implement policies that make this strategy feasible in all clinical settings.

Assessment of the Effects of Pediatric Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Family Stress and Well-Being: Development of the IMPACT 1.0 Scale.

Medications may lessen core symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet families continue to report stress and have a low quality of life. Primary care providers manage almost half of all children with ADHD but do not have a brief measure to assess ADHD impacts on family in the context of everyday family life. The IMPACT (Impact Measure of Parenting-Related ADHD Challenges and Treatment) 1.0 Scale was codeveloped with input from parent advisors and administered to 79 parents of children with ADHD. Exploratory factor analysis, correlations with validated instruments, and test-retest reliability were examined. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in 4 subscales (Misbehavior, Siblings, Time, School), which demonstrated moderate to high test-retest reliability. Scale domains were related to severity and change in ADHD symptoms. Significant correlations were found between IMPACT scores, adaptive functioning in the home, and ADHD-related quality of life. The IMPACT 1.0 Scale provides a novel, reliable, and valid method to assess family impact of ADHD.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Management of Distal Ureteral Stones in Children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the most cost-effective approach to the management of distal ureteral stones in children given the potential for recurrent renal colic during a trial of passage versus potential stent discomfort and complications of ureteroscopy. METHODS: We developed a decision tree to project costs and clinical outcomes associated with observation, medical explusive therapy (MET), and ureteroscopy for the management of an index patient with a 4-mm-distal ureteral stone. We determined which strategy would be least costly and offer the most pain-free days within 30days of diagnosis. We performed a one-way sensitivity analysis on the probability of successful stone passage with MET. We obtained probabilities from the literature and costs from the 2016 Pediatric Health Information System Database. RESULTS: Ureteroscopy was the costliest strategy but maximized the number of pain-free days within 30days of diagnosis ($5282/29 pain-free days). MET was less costly than ureteroscopy but also less effective ($615/21.8 pain-free days). Observation cost more than MET and was also less effective ($2139/15.5 pain-free days). The one-way sensitivity analysis on the probability of successful stone passage with MET demonstrated that ureteroscopy always has the highest net monetary benefits value and is therefore the recommended strategy given a fixed willingness-to-pay. DISCUSSION: Using a rigorous decision-science approach, we found that ureteroscopy is the recommended strategy in children with small distal ureteral stones. Although it costs more than MET, it resulted in more pain-free days in the first 30days following diagnosis given the faster resolution of the stone episode.

Impact of socioeconomic markers on parents' retention of pediatric oncology home care education: A pilot study.

Little is known about the extent to which parents retain the education on how to manage home medical emergencies. We sought to describe retention of pediatric oncology home care education (POHCE) in a cohort of 24 parents of newly diagnosed children with cancer and investigate sociodemographic disparities in this retention. We measured retention using a vignette-based survey instrument. The mean score was 4 (range 0-6, SD = 1.6) and parents with high school only education and those with limited cancer health literacy scored lowest (2.5 and 2.8, respectively). Future POHCE interventions can focus on parents' literacy and education levels as predictors to tailor alternative education strategies.

Valuing health for oneself versus one's child or elderly parent.

The aim of this study was to determine if adults value health states or are willing to accept risk differently for themselves than for their children or elderly parents. Participants (701) were asked to rate four hypothetical health states for themselves using both the standard gamble and time trade-off methodologies. They then did the same assessments for a real or hypothetical child as well as an elderly parent. Participants were willing to take more risk or trade more years of life to avoid bilateral vision loss and mental impairment for themselves than they were for their children and elderly parents.

Prevalence of pain reports in pediatric primary care and association with demographics, body mass index, and exam findings: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric pain is associated to patient weight and demographics in specialized settings, but pain prevalence and its associated patient attributes in general pediatric outpatient care are unknown. Our objective was to determine the rate of positive pain screenings in pediatric primary care and evaluate the relationship between reported pain and obesity, demographics, and exam findings during routine pediatric encounters. METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study of 26,180 patients ages 2 to 19 seen in five urban pediatric primary care clinics between 2009 and 2016. Data were collected from systematic screening using a computerized clinical decision support system. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to analyze the association between pain reporting and obesity (body mass index), age, sex, race, season, insurance status, clinic site, prior pain reporting, pain reporting method, and exam findings. RESULTS: Pain was reported by the patient or caregiver in 14.9% of visits. In adjusted models, pain reporting was associated with obesity (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.23, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) 1.11-1.35) and severe obesity (OR 1.32, CI 1.17-1.49); adolescents (OR 1.47, CI 1.33-1.61); and females (OR 1.21, CI 1.12-1.29). Pain reported at the preceding visit increased odds of pain reporting 2.67 times (CI 2.42-2.95). Abnormal abdominal, extremity, ear, nose, throat, and lymph node exams were associated with pain reporting. Pain reporting increased in minority races within clinics that predominantly saw a concordant race. CONCLUSIONS: Pain is common in general pediatric encounters, and occurs more frequently in obese children and those who previously reported pain. Pain reporting may be influenced by seasonal variation and clinic factors. Future pediatric pain screening may be guided by associated risk factors to improve identification and targeted healthcare interventions.

Influence of Maternal Factors in Neonatologists' Counseling for Periviable Pregnancies.

Background Neonatologists have varying counseling practices for women with threatened periviable pregnancies. Previous research has suggested this variability may be influenced by social and economic factors of the mother. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the relative influence of maternal factors in counseling recommendations for periviable pregnancies. Methods A national cohort of neonatologists was sent a web-based survey. Five maternal characteristics were varied across eight vignettes: age, education, race, parity, and pregnancy "intendedness." Following each vignette, participants reported their likelihood to recommend full resuscitation versus comfort care. Conjoint analysis was used to assess the relative influence of each factor on respondents' recommendations. Results Responses from 328 neonatologists were included. Of the five tested maternal characteristics, parity and intendedness had the highest importance scores (40.2 and 35.0), followed by race, education, and age. If parents requested resuscitation, respondents were highly likely to comply with preferences, with little variation across vignettes. Conclusion Fetal-specific factors such as gestational age and estimated weight are known to influence counseling and decision making for extremely preterm infants. Our results suggest that maternal factors may also influence counseling practices, although physicians are likely to comply with parental preferences regardless of maternal factors. Future research should identify how maternal characteristics impact actual counseling practices.

Medical legal partnership and health informatics impacting child health: Interprofessional innovations.

Dramatic differences in health are closely related to degrees of social and economic disadvantage. Poverty-induced hardships such as food insecurity, utility shut-offs, and substandard housing, all have the potential to negatively impact the health of families. In an effort to better address social determinants of health in pediatric primary health care settings using the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) model of health care delivery, an interprofessional team of investigators came together to design an innovative process for using computerized clinical decision support to identify health-harming legal and social needs, improve the delivery of appropriate physician counseling, and streamline access to legal and social service professionals when non-medical remedies are required. This article describes the interprofessional nature of the MLP model itself, illustrates the work that was done to craft this innovative health informatics approach to implementing MLP, and demonstrates how pediatricians, social workers and attorneys may work together to improve child health outcomes.

Median Household Income: Association with Mortality in Children on Chronic Ventilation at Home Secondary to Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if living in a lower income neighborhood is associated with mortality of patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) on home ventilation. Methods: Patients were divided into two groups by their ZIP code-based annual household income (Z-AHI), their year of birth, and the median state household income. Survival, liberation from ventilation, and decannulation rates were analyzed between the groups. Results: Over 27 years, 94 patients met our inclusion criteria: 58 (61.7%) were in the group with lower Z-AHI, and 36 (38.3%) were in the group with the Z-AHI above the median state household. Of the patients who died, 14/15 were in the lower Z-AHI group (p=0.003). Survival probability at 60 months of age showed no significant difference between the two groups: 81% [95% CI 70.9, 91.1] for the group with the Z-AHI below the median state household, and 100% [95% CI 100.0, 90.3] for the group with higher Z-AHI (p=0.31). Conclusions: The results of this study are descriptive, as the cause of the association between mortality rate and living in an area with lower household income is not yet understood. The difference in mortality rates between groups above and below the median state income suggests a serious health disparity, which warrants further study. Additional understanding of this effect requires more complete and direct measurement of socioeconomic status and individual characteristics, and better understanding of local environmental conditions.

Pediatricians' responses to printed clinical reminders: does highlighting prompts improve responsiveness?

OBJECTIVE: Physicians typically respond to roughly half of the clinical decision support prompts they receive. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that selectively highlighting prompts in yellow would improve physicians' responsiveness. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial using the Child Health Improvement Through Computer Automation clinical decision support system in 4 urban primary care pediatric clinics. Half of a set of electronic prompts of interest was highlighted in yellow when presented to physicians in 2 clinics. The other half of the prompts was highlighted when presented to physicians in the other 2 clinics. Analyses compared physician responsiveness to the 2 randomized sets of prompts: highlighted versus not highlighted. Additionally, several prompts deemed high priority were highlighted during the entire study period in all clinics. Physician response rates to the high-priority highlighted prompts were compared to response rates for those prompts from the year before the study period, when they were not highlighted. RESULTS: Physicians did not respond to prompts that were highlighted at higher rates than prompts that were not highlighted (62% and 61%, respectively; odds ratio 1.056, P = .259, NS). Similarly, physicians were no more likely to respond to high-priority prompts that were highlighted compared to the year before, when the prompts were not highlighted (59% and 59%, respectively, χ(2) = 0.067, P = .796, NS). CONCLUSIONS: Highlighting reminder prompts did not increase physicians' responsiveness. We provide possible explanations why highlighting did not improve responsiveness and offer alternative strategies to increasing physician responsiveness to prompts.

Attitudes about the use of newborn dried blood spots for research: a survey of underrepresented parents.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the relative importance of factors that impact parents' attitudes toward use of their child's dried newborn blood spots for research purposes. METHODS: Respondents were parents aged 18 and older with at least one child aged 17 or younger born in Indiana visiting an urban pediatrics clinic. They were asked to rate the acceptability of hypothetical scenarios involving the research use of blood spots. Three pieces of information varied between the scenarios: 1) who would be conducting the research; 2) whether the child's identity would be linked to the spots; and 3) whether and how often the parents' consent would be sought before the research began. RESULTS: A total of 506 predominantly black and low-income parents completed the survey. The conjoint analysis model showed good fit (Pearson's R = 0.998, P < .001). The rank order of factors affecting parents' attitudes was: 1) consent (importance score = 64.9), 2) whether the child's identity was linked to the spot (importance score = 19.4), and 3) affiliation of the researcher using the spots (importance score = 14.6). Respondents preferred being asked for their consent each time their children's spots would be used. They preferred that the children's identity not be linked to the spots and that the research be conducted by university researchers, though these issues had less impact on attitudes than consent. CONCLUSIONS: Parents strongly prefer that consent be sought for each use of their children's blood spots. These findings have implications for future research and policy-making decisions.

Racial, Ethnic, and Language Disparities in Children's Exposure to Secondhand Smoke.

Race and ethnicity affect children's risk of secondhand smoke exposure. However, little is known about how race and language preference impact parents' self-reported smoking and stopping smoking rates. We analyzed data for 16,523 children aged 0-11 years from a pediatric computer decision support system (Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation [CHICA]). CHICA asks families in the waiting room about household smokers. We examined associations between race, insurance, language preference, and household smoking and reported stopping smoking rates using logistic regression. Almost a quarter (23%) of the children's families reported a smoker at home. Hispanic children are least likely (odds ratio [OR]: 0.17, confidence interval [CI]: 0.12-0.24) to have secondhand smoke exposure when compared to African American and white children, as were those with private insurance (OR: 0.52, CI: 0.43-0.64) or no insurance (OR: 0.79, CI: 0.71-0.88) compared to publicly insured. Children from English speaking families were more likely (OR: 1.55, CI: 1.24-1.95) to have secondhand smoke exposure compared to Spanish speaking families. Among smoking families, 30% reported stopping smoking subsequently. Stopping rates were higher in Hispanic (OR: 3.25, CI: 2.06-5.13) and African American (OR: 1.39, CI: 1.01-1.91) families compared to white children's families. Uninsured families were less likely than publicly insured families to report stopping smoking (OR: 0.76, CI: 0.63-0.92). English speaking families were less likely (OR: 0.56, CI: 0.41-0.75) to report stopping smoking compared to Spanish speaking even in a subgroup analyses of Hispanic families (OR: 0.55, CI: 0.39-0.76). In our safety net practices serving children predominantly on public insurance, Spanish speaking families reported the lowest risk of secondhand smoke exposure in children and the highest rate of stopping smoking in the household. Hispanic families may have increasing secondhand exposure and decreasing rates of stopping smoking as they acculturate.

Threshold analysis of reimbursing physicians for the application of fluoride varnish in young children.

OBJECTIVE: Most state Medicaid programs reimburse physicians for providing fluoride varnish, yet the only published studies of cost-effectiveness do not show cost-savings. Our objective is to apply state-specific claims data to an existing published model to quickly and inexpensively estimate the cost-savings of a policy consideration to better inform decisions - specifically, to assess whether Indiana Medicaid children's restorative service rates met the threshold to generate cost-savings. METHODS: Threshold analysis was based on the 2006 model by Quiñonez et al. Simple calculations were used to "align" the Indiana Medicaid data with the published model. Quarterly likelihoods that a child would receive treatment for caries were annualized. The probability of a tooth developing a cavitated lesion was multiplied by the probability of using restorative services. Finally, this rate of restorative services given cavitation was multiplied by 1.5 to generate the threshold to attain cost-savings. Restorative services utilization rates, extrapolated from available Indiana Medicaid claims, were compared with these thresholds. RESULTS: For children 1-2 years old, restorative services utilization was 2.6 percent, which was below the 5.8 percent threshold for cost-savings. However, for children 3-5 years of age, restorative services utilization was 23.3 percent, exceeding the 14.5 percent threshold that suggests cost-savings. CONCLUSIONS: Combining a published model with state-specific data, we were able to quickly and inexpensively demonstrate that restorative service utilization rates for children 36 months and older in Indiana are high enough that fluoride varnish regularly applied by physicians to children starting at 9 months of age could save Medicaid funds over a 3-year horizon.

Increased length of stay and costs associated with weekend admissions for failure to thrive.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether admission day of the week affects the length of stay (LOS) and health care costs for failure to thrive (FTT) admissions. METHODS: Administrative data were obtained for all children aged <2 years (N = 23 332) with a primary admission diagnosis of FTT from 2003-2011 from 42 freestanding US hospitals. Demographic characteristics, day of admission, LOS, costs per stay, number of discharge diagnoses, primary discharge diagnoses, primary procedure code, number of radiologic and laboratory units billed during admission were obtained for each admission. Linear regression and zero-truncated Poisson regression were used for analysis. RESULTS: Weekend admission was significantly correlated with increased LOS and increased average cost (P < .002). This finding was also true for children with both admission and discharge diagnoses of FTT (P < .001). The number of procedures for children admitted on the weekend was not significantly different compared with children admitted on the weekdays (incident rate ratio [IRR]:1.04 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.09]). However, weekend admissions did have more radiologic studies (IRR: 1.13 [95% CI: 1.10-1.16]) and laboratory tests (IRR: 1.39 [95% CI: 1.38-1.40]) performed. If one-half of weekend admissions in 2010 with both admission and discharge diagnoses of FTT were converted to Monday admissions, total savings in health care dollars for 2010 would be $534, 145. CONCLUSIONS: Scheduled FTT admissions on weekends increased LOS and health care costs compared with weekday admissions of similar levels of complexity. Reduction in planned weekend admissions for FTT could significantly reduce health care costs.

The utility assessment method order influences measurement of parents' risk attitude.

BACKGROUND: Standard gamble (SG) and time trade-off (TTO) are two methods used for obtaining health utility values (utilities). Whether the order in which the methods are applied alters the relative utilities obtained by each method is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether the order in which SG and TTO utilities were obtained affects the relative values of the utilities obtained by each technique. METHODS: Utilities were assessed for 29 health states from 4016 parents by using SG and TTO. The assessment order was randomized by respondent. For analysis by health state, we calculated (SG - TTO) for each assessment and tested whether the SG - TTO difference was significantly different between the two groups (SG first and TTO first). For analysis by individual, we calculated a risk-posture coefficient, γ, defined by the utility curve, SG = TTO(γ). We predicted γ through regression analysis with the covariates: child age, child sex, birth order, respondent age, respondent education level, and assessment method order. RESULTS: In 19 of 29 health states, the SG - TTO difference was significantly greater (more risk averse) when TTO was assessed first. In the regression analysis, "child age" and "assessment method order" were significant predictors of risk attitude. The risk posture coefficient γ was higher (more risk-seeking) with increasing child age and in the SG-first respondents. CONCLUSION: The order in which the SG versus TTO method is used strongly influences the relative values of the utilities obtained.

Application of classic utilities to published pediatric cost-utility studies.

OBJECTIVE: Economic analyses, such as cost-utility analyses (CUAs), are dependent on the quality of the data used. Our objective was to test how health utility values (measurements of patient preference) assessed by recommended methods (classic utilities) would impact the conclusions in published pediatric CUAs. METHODS: Classic utilities for pediatric health states were obtained by recommended utility assessment methods, time trade-off, and standard gamble in 4016 parent interviews. To test the impact of these utilities on published studies, we obtained a sample of published pediatric CUAs by searching Medline, EMBASE, EconLit, Health Technology Assessment Database, Cochrane Database on Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and the Cost Effective Analysis (CEA) Registry at Tufts Medical Center, using search terms for cost-utility analysis. Articles were included when results were presented as cost per quality adjusted life-years (QALYs), the interventions were for children <18 years of age and included at least one of the following health states: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma, gastroenteritis, hearing loss, mental retardation, otitis media, seizure disorder, or vision loss. Studies that did not include these or equivalent health states were excluded. For each CUA, we determined utilities (values for patient preference), the utility assessment method used, and presence of one-way sensitivity analyses (SAs) on utilities. When one-way SAs were conducted, we determined if using our classic utilities would change the result of the CUA. When an SA was not presented, we determined if using our classic utilities would tend to support or not support the published conclusions. RESULTS: We evaluated 39 articles. Eighteen articles presented results of one-way SAs on utilities. Seven articles presented SAs over a range that included our classic utilities. In 4 of the 7, using classic utilities would change the conclusion of the study. For the 32 articles where no one-way SA were presented (n = 21), or where the classic utilities fell outside the range tested (n =11), a change to classic utility would tend against the study conclusion in 12 articles (31%). CONCLUSIONS: More than a third of published CUA studies could change if pediatric utilities obtained by recommended, classic methods were used. One-way SAs on utilities are often not presented, making comparison between studies challenging.

Case finding with incomplete administrative data: observations on playing with less than a full deck.

Capacity constraints and efficiency considerations require that disease management programs identify patients most likely to benefit from intervention. Predictive modeling with available administrative data has been used as a strategy to match patients with appropriate interventions. Administrative data, however, can be plagued by problems of incompleteness and delays in processing. In this article, we examine the effects of these problems on the effectiveness of using administrative data to identify suitable candidates for disease management, and we evaluate various proposed solutions. We build prospective models using regression analysis and evaluate the resulting stratification algorithms using R² statistics, areas under receiver operator characteristic curves, and cost concentration ratios. We find delays in receipt of data reduce the effectiveness of the stratification algorithm, but the degree of compromise depends on what proportion of the population is targeted for intervention. Surprisingly, we find that supplementing partial data with a longer panel of more outdated data produces algorithms that are inferior to algorithms based on a shorter window of more recent data. Demographic data add little to algorithms that include prior claims data, and are an inadequate substitute when claims data are unavailable. Supplementing demographic data with additional information on self-reported health status improves the stratification performance only slightly and only when disease management is targeted to the highest risk patients. We conclude that the extra costs associated with surveying patients for health status information or retrieving older claims data cannot be justified given the lack of evidence that either improves the effectiveness of the stratification algorithm.