Factors Associated with Growth in a Cohort of Children with Complex Biventricular Congenital Heart Disease.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate patterns and determinants of longitudinal growth among children requiring complex biventricular repair for congenital heart disease, as well as to assess for associations of growth with early feeding modality, comorbidities, postoperative complications, and socioeconomic characteristics. STUDY DESIGN: A single-institution retrospective cohort study was performed in children born February 1999 to March 2009 with complex congenital heart disease who underwent biventricular repair before age 4 years, defined by Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery-1 category 3-5. Clinical characteristics, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) from ages 2-12 years were collected by chart review. Neighborhood-level socioeconomic data were identified using a geographic information system approach. The adjusted association of covariates with growth outcomes was estimated using multivariable linear regression models using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Compared with population growth curves, the cohort (n = 150) trended toward early decrease in age-adjusted weight and height. Early tube feeding was significantly associated with decreased BMI before adolescence (-0.539; 95% CI -1.02, -0.054; P = .029). In addition, other clinical and perioperative characteristics had significant associations with growth, including low birth weight, preoperative tube feeds, need for multiple bypass runs, and diagnosis of feeding disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Early childhood growth in children with complex biventricular repair may be impaired. Early tube feeding was associated with decreased BMI over the course of early childhood, which may indicate a need for continued close nutrition follow-up and support even beyond the duration of tube feeds.

Gabapentin as a novel adjunct for postoperative irritability after superior cavopulmonary connection operation in children.

OBJECTIVES: Describing our institution's off-label use of gabapentin to treat irritability after superior cavopulmonary connection surgery and its impact on subsequent opiate and benzodiazepine requirements. METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study including infants who underwent superior cavopulmonary connection operation between 2011 and 2019. RESULTS: Gabapentin was administered in 74 subjects (74/323, 22.9%) during the observation period, with a median (IQR) starting dose of 5.7 (3.3, 15.0) mg/kg/day and a maximum dose of 10.7 (5.5, 23.4) mg/kg/day. Infants who underwent surgery in 2015-19 were more likely to receive gabapentin compared with those who underwent surgery in 2011-14 (p < 0.0001). Infants prescribed gabapentin were younger at surgery (137 versus 146 days, p = 0.007) and had longer chest tube durations (1.8 versus 0.9 days, p < 0.001), as well as longer postoperative intensive care (5.8 versus 3.1 days, p < 0.0001) and hospital (11.5 versus 7.0 days, p < 0.0001) lengths of stays. The year of surgery was the only predisposing factor associated with gabapentin administration in multivariate analysis. In adjusted linear regression, infants prescribed gabapentin on postoperative day 0-4 (n = 64) had reduced benzodiazepine exposure in the following 3 days (-0.29 mg/kg, 95% CI -0.52 - -0.06, p = 0.01) compared with those not prescribed gabapentin, while no difference was seen in opioid exposure (p = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: Gabapentin was used with increasing frequency during the study period. There was a modest reduction in benzodiazepine requirements associated with gabapentin administration and no reduction in opioid requirements. A randomised controlled trial could better assess gabapentin's benefits postoperatively in children with congenital heart disease.

Racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in neonatal ICU admissions among neonates born with cyanotic CHD in the United States, 2009-2018.

INTRODUCTION: Disparities in CHD outcomes exist across the lifespan. However, less is known about disparities for patients with CHD admitted to neonatal ICU. We sought to identify sociodemographic disparities in neonatal ICU admissions among neonates born with cyanotic CHD. MATERIALS & METHODS: Annual natality files from the US National Center for Health Statistics for years 2009-2018 were obtained. For each neonate, we identified sex, birthweight, pre-term birth, presence of cyanotic CHD, and neonatal ICU admission at time of birth, as well as maternal age, race, ethnicity, comorbidities/risk factors, trimester at start of prenatal care, educational attainment, and two measures of socio-economic status (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] status and insurance type). Multivariable logistic regression models were fit to determine the association of maternal socio-economic status with neonatal ICU admission. A covariate for race/ethnicity was then added to each model to determine if race/ethnicity attenuate the relationship between socio-economic status and neonatal ICU admission. RESULTS: Of 22,373 neonates born with cyanotic CHD, 77.2% had a neonatal ICU admission. Receipt of WIC benefits was associated with higher odds of neonatal ICU admission (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.20, 95% CI 1.1-1.29, p < 0.01). Neonates born to non-Hispanic Black mothers had increased odds of neonatal ICU admission (aOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.35, p < 0.01), whereas neonates born to Hispanic mothers were at lower odds of neonatal ICU admission (aOR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76-0.93, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Maternal Black race and low socio-economic status are associated with increased risk of neonatal ICU admission for neonates born with cyanotic CHD. Further work is needed to identify the underlying causes of these disparities.

Temporal trends in primary payers in pediatric heart transplant and association with long-term survival.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric heart transplantation (HT) is resource intensive. In adults, there has been an increase in the proportion of HTs funded by public insurance, with post-HT outcomes inferior to those funded by private sources. Trends in the funding of pediatric HT and outcomes in children have not been described. METHODS: We queried the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database for children (<18 years) listed for and undergoing HT between 2004 and 2021. We identified the primary payer at listing, HT, 1 year, and 1-5 years following HT. Trends were analyzed using generalized logit models. Multivariable-extended Cox regression models were used to test the relationship between insurance type at the time of transplant and time to death or re-transplant. RESULTS: There were 6382 pediatric patients who underwent transplants and had either public or private insurance at the time of transplant. The percentage of patients with public insurance at the time of HT increased over time. Public insurance at the time of HT was associated with an increased risk of death or re-transplant beyond 2 months after HT (adjusted HR at 6 months = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13-1.81, p = .003; adjusted HR at 9 months = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.17-2.37, p = .004). CONCLUSION: There has been a statistically significant trend toward increasing public insurance for children awaiting, at the time of, and after HT. Black patients and those with public insurance at HT have worse long-term outcomes. This study highlights ongoing disparities in pediatric HT and the need to focus efforts on achieving equitable outcomes.

Biomarkers, Socioeconomic Factors, and Right Ventricular Function After Surgical Repair for Tetralogy of Fallot.

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction early after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) increases post-operative morbidity. We investigated associations of circulating biomarkers and socioeconomic factors with early post-operative RV systolic function. Single-center prospective cohort study of infants undergoing TOF repair. Six serologic biomarkers of myocardial fibrosis and wall stress collected at the time of surgery were measured with immunoassay. Geocoding was performed for socioeconomic factors. Multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) models identified factors associated with RV function parameters: fractional area change (FAC), global longitudinal strain and strain rate, and free wall strain and strain rate. Seventy-one patients aged 3.5 months (IQR 2.4, 5.2) were included. Galectin-3 was the highest ranked predictor for FAC, global longitudinal strain, and free wall strain, and procollagen type-I carboxy-terminal propeptide (PICP) was the highest ranked predictor for global longitudinal strain rate and free wall strain rate. Several neighborhood characteristics were also highly ranked. Models adjusted R2 ranged from 0.71 to 0.85 (FAC, global longitudinal strain/strain rate), and 0.55-0.57 (RV free wall strain/strain rate). A combination of serologic biomarkers, socioeconomic, and clinical variables explain a significant proportion of the variability in RV function after TOF repair. These factors may inform pre-operative risk-stratification for these patients.

Prevalent pharmacotherapy of US Fontan survivors: A study utilizing data from the MarketScan Commercial and Medicaid claims databases.

BACKGROUND: Survivors of Fontan palliation are at life-long risk of thrombosis, arrhythmia, and circulatory failure. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated current United States pharmaceutical prescription practice in this population. METHODS: A retrospective observational study evaluating the prevalent use of prescription medications in children and adolescents with hypoplastic left heart syndrome or tricuspid atresia after Fontan completion (identified using ICD9/10 codes) was performed using data contained in the MarketScan Commercial and Medicaid databases for the years 2013 through 2018. Cardiac pharmaceuticals were divided by class. Anticoagulant agents other than platelet inhibitors, which are not uniformly a prescription medication, were also studied. Associations between increasing age and the likelihood of a filled prescription for each class of drug were evaluated. Annualized retail costs of pharmaceutical regimens were calculated. RESULTS: A cohort of 4,056 subjects (median age 12 years [interquartile range: 8-16], 61% male, 60% commercial insurance) was identified. Of the cohort, 50% received no prescription medications. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEi/ARB) (38%), diuretics (15%), and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (8%) were prescribed with the highest frequency. Pulmonary vasodilators were received by 6% of subjects. Older age was associated with increased likelihood of filled prescriptions for anticoagulants (P = .008), antiarrhythmic agents, digoxin, ACEi/ARB, and beta blockers (each P < .0001), but also lower likelihood of filled prescriptions for pulmonary vasodilators, conventional diuretics (both P < .0001), and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Pharmaceuticals typically used to treat heart failure and pulmonary hypertension are the most commonly prescribed medications following Fontan palliation. While the likelihood of treatment with a particular class of medication is associated with the age of the patient, determining the optimal regimen for individual patients and the population at large is an important knowledge gap for future research.

The Effect of Epinephrine Dosing Intervals on Outcomes from Pediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Rationale: Animal studies of cardiac arrest suggest that shorter epinephrine dosing intervals than currently recommended (every 3-5 min) may be beneficial in select circumstances. Objectives: To evaluate the association between epinephrine dosing intervals and pediatric cardiac arrest outcomes. Methods: Single-center retrospective cohort study of children (<18 years of age) who received ⩾1 minute of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ⩾2 doses of epinephrine for an index in-hospital cardiac arrest. Exposure was epinephrine dosing interval ⩽2 minutes (frequent epinephrine) versus >2 minutes. The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge with a favorable neurobehavioral outcome (Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category score 1-2 or unchanged). Logistic regression evaluated the association between dosing interval and outcomes; additional analyses explored duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a mediator. In a subgroup, the effect of dosing interval on diastolic blood pressure was investigated. Measurements and Main Results: Between January 2011 and December 2018, 125 patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria; 33 (26%) received frequent epinephrine. Frequent epinephrine was associated with increased odds of survival with favorable neurobehavioral outcome (adjusted odds ratio, 2.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-6.14; P = 0.036), with 66% of the association mediated by CPR duration. Delta diastolic blood pressure was greater after the second dose of epinephrine among patients who received frequent epinephrine (median [interquartile range], 6.3 [4.1 to 16.9] vs. 0.13 [-2.3 to 1.9] mm Hg; P = 0.034). Conclusions: In patients who received at least two doses of epinephrine, dosing intervals ⩽2 minutes were associated with improved neurobehavioral outcomes compared with dosing intervals >2 minutes. Mediation analysis suggests that improved outcomes are largely due to frequent epinephrine shortening duration of CPR.

Adherence with lipid screening guidelines in standard- and high-risk children and adolescents.

Because atherosclerosis begins in childhood, universal lipid screening is recommended with special attention to conditions predisposing to early atherosclerosis. Data about real-world penetration of these guidelines is not available. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using MarketScan® commercial and Medicaid insurance claims databases, a geographically representative sample of U.S. children. Subjects who passed through the 9- to 11-year window and had continuous insurance coverage between 1/1/2013 and 12/31/2016 were studied. Multivariable models were calculated, evaluating the association between other patient factors and the likelihood of screening. The primary hypothesis was that screening rates would be low, but that high-risk conditions would be associated with a higher likelihood of screening. RESULTS: In total, 572,522 children (51% male, 33% black, 11% Hispanic, 51% Medicaid) were studied. The prevalence of high-risk conditions was 2.2%. In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, these subjects were more likely to be screened than standard-risk subjects (47% vs. 20%, OR: 3.7, 95% CI 3.5-3.8, P < .001). Within this group, the diagnosis-specific likelihood of screening varied (26-69%). Endocrinopathies (OR 5.4, 95% CI 5.2-5.7), solid organ transplants (OR 5.0, 95% CI 3.8-6.6), and metabolic disease (OR 3.9, 95% CI 3.1-5.0, all P < .001) were associated with the highest likelihood of undergoing screening. CONCLUSIONS: Despite national recommendations, lipid screening was performed in a minority of children. Though subjects with high-risk conditions had a higher likelihood of screening, rates remained low. This study highlights the need for research and advocacy regarding obstacles to lipid screening of children in the United States.

Association of psychological distress and religious coping tendencies in parents of children recently diagnosed with cancer: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Parents of children with cancer exhibit high levels of psychological distress. Parents of children with serious illness report religion and spirituality are important coping resources. We sought to describe characteristics of religion, religious coping, social support, and resiliency in parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer and examine associations between psychological distress and self-reported religious coping, religiosity, resiliency, and social support. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study of 100 parents of 81 unique children recently diagnosed with cancer. Parents provided demographic information and completed measures of psychological distress, importance of religion, religious coping, resiliency, and social support. Patients' type of tumor and intensity of treatment were collected by medical record abstraction. RESULTS: Compared to nationally reported data for adults, parents of children with cancer reported high scores for psychological distress but similar levels of religiosity, religious coping, and resiliency. Negative religious coping (feelings of negativity related to the divine) was associated with higher levels of psychological distress. This effect was most prominent in parents who reported the highest levels of religiosity. Positive religious coping, religiosity, and social support were not associated with levels of psychological distress. DISCUSSION: Findings confirm high levels of distress for parents of children with cancer. Negative religious coping was associated with higher levels of psychological distress but positive religious coping, religiosity, and other coping factors were not found to be significantly associated with distress. Further assessment of negative religious coping to inform interventions to promote resiliency is warranted as they may impact parental decision-making and care.

Early Evaluation and the Effect of Socioeconomic Factors on Neurodevelopment in Infants with Tetralogy of Fallot.

Neurodevelopmental sequelae are prevalent among patients with congenital heart defects (CHD). In a study of infants and children with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), we sought to identify those at risk for abnormal neurodevelopment and to test associations between socioeconomic and medical factors with neurodevelopment deficits. Single-center retrospective observational study of patients with repaired TOF that were evaluated at the institution's Cardiac Kids Developmental Follow-up Program (CKDP) between 2012 and 2018. Main outcomes included neurodevelopmental test scores from the Bayley Infant Neurodevelopmental Screener (BINS), Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS), and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Mixed effects linear regression and marginal logistic regression models tested relationships between patient characteristics and outcomes. Sub-analyses were conducted to test correlations between initial and later neurodevelopment tests. In total, 49 patients were included, predominantly male (n = 33) and white (n = 28), first evaluated at a median age of 4.5 months. Forty-three percent of patients (n = 16) had deficits in the BINS, the earliest screening test. Several socioeconomic parameters and measures of disease complexity were associated with neurodevelopment, independently of genetic syndrome. Early BINS and PDMS performed in infancy were associated with Bayley-III scores performed after 1 year of age. Early screening identifies TOF patients at risk for abnormal neurodevelopment. Socioeconomic factors and disease complexity are associated with abnormal neurodevelopment and should be taken into account in the risk stratification and follow-up of these patients. Early evaluation with BINS and PDMS is suggested for detection of early deficits.

Longitudinal changes in echocardiographic measures of ventricular function after Fontan operation.

BACKGROUND: While numerous indices have been developed in an attempt to quantify ventricular function in patients with single ventricle heart disease after Fontan, there are little data on how these parameters change over time. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was performed of individuals who underwent Fontan operation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in 2006 and 2007. Measurements of fractional area change (FAC), tricuspid annular planar systolic excursion (TAPSE), myocardial performance index (MPI), systolic to diastolic (s/d) ratio, and myocardial strain and strain rate were made offline. A composite outcome of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), plastic bronchitis, transplant, or death was created, and change in function was compared between those who did and those who did not meet the outcome. RESULTS: There were 312 echocardiograms from 40 unique patients (75% male, 55% dominant right ventricle). The aggregate mean values for most assessed parameters were worse than what would be expected for a healthy age-matched population. The global longitudinal strain rate increased (worsened) by 0.014 (1/s) per year (P = .02), and the global circumferential strain rate increased (worsened) by 0.011 (1/s) per year (P = .01). There was no difference in the rate of change of ventricular function in the 6 patients who met the composite endpoint vs those who did not. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that global longitudinal strain rate and global circumferential strain rate decrease over 10 years following Fontan operation. These measures of ventricular performance may be early signs of cardiac dysfunction that predate more obvious echocardiographic signs of deterioration.

Pulse Oximetry Screening Has Not Changed Timing of Diagnosis or Mortality of Critical Congenital Heart Disease.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of mandatory pulse oximetry screening. The objective is to evaluate whether mandatory pulse oximetry testing had decreased the late critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) diagnosis rate and reduced mortality in neonatal subjects. This was a single center, retrospective cohort study comparing the timing of diagnosis of CCHD between neonates undergoing cardiac surgery in 2009-2010, prior to mandatory pulse oximetry screening, and neonates in 2015-2016, after mandatory pulse oximetry screening was instituted. Follow-up was for 1 year. We defined CCHD as lesions requiring surgical correction within 30 days of life. Exclusions included: pacemaker insertions, vascular ring divisions, closure of patent ductus arteriosus, arterial cutdown, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation without structural heart disease as the sole procedure, or if subjects were born at home. Infants diagnosed prior to discharge from birth hospital were defined as early postnatal; late postnatal subjects were diagnosed after birth hospital discharge. In-hospital mortality and 1-year mortality were measured. A total of 527 neonates were included; 251 (47.6%) comprised the pre-mandatory pulse oximetry screening cohort (2009-2010). Only 3.6% of the 2009-2010 cohort and 4.3% of the 2015-2016 cohort were diagnosed late (p = 0.66). One-year mortality decreased during the study period (17.2% in 2009-2010 vs 10.5% in 2015-2016, p = 0.03). There were no deaths in the late CCHD diagnosis groups. Mandatory pulse oximetry screening legislation has not changed the late postnatal diagnosis rate at our institution. Mortality for neonatal CCHD has declined, but this decline is not attributable to mandatory pulse oximetry screening.

A Comparison of Bidirectional Glenn vs. Hemi-Fontan Procedure: An Analysis of the Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial Public Use Dataset.

Patients with single ventricle (SV) heart defects have two primary surgical options for superior cavopulmonary connection (SCPC): bidirectional Glenn (BDG) and hemi-Fontan (HF). Outcomes based on type of SCPC have not been assessed in a multi-center cohort. This retrospective cohort study uses the Single Ventricle Reconstruction (SVR) Trial public use dataset. Infants who survived to SCPC were evaluated through 1 year of age, based on type of SCPC. The primary outcome was transplant-free survival at 1 year. The cohort included 343 patients undergoing SCPC across 15 centers in North America; 250 (73%) underwent the BDG. There was no difference between the groups in pre-SCPC clinical characteristics. Cardiopulmonary bypass times were longer [99 min (IQR 76, 126) vs 81 min (IQR 59, 116), p < 0.001] and use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) more prevalent (51% vs 19%, p < 0.001) with HF. Patients who underwent HF had a higher likelihood of experiencing more than one post-operative complication (54% vs 41%, p = 0.05). There were no other differences including the rate of post-operative interventional cardiac catheterizations, length of stay, or survival at discharge, and there was no difference in transplant-free survival out to 1 year of age. Mortality after SCPC is low and there is no difference in mortality at 1 year of age based on type of SCPC. Differences in support time and post-operative complications support the preferential use of the BDG, but additional longitudinal follow-up is necessary to understand whether these differences have implications for long-term outcomes.

Complete Versus Staged Repair for Neonates With Tetralogy of Fallot: Establishment and Validation of a Cohort of 2235 Patients Using Detailed Surgery Sequence Review of Health Care Administrative Data.

BACKGROUND: The surgical strategy for neonates with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) consists of complete or staged repair. Assessing the comparative effectiveness of these approaches is facilitated by a large multicenter cohort. We propose a novel process for cohort assembly using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS), an administrative database that contains clinical and billing data for inpatient and emergency department stays from tertiary children's hospitals. METHODS: A 4-step process was used to identify neonates with TOF: (1) screen neonates in PHIS with International Classification of Diseases-9 (ICD-9) diagnosis or procedure codes for TOF; (2) include patients with TOF procedures before 30 days of age; (3) exclude patients with missing 2-year follow-up data; (4) analyze patients' 2-year surgery sequence patterns, exclude patients inconsistent with a treatment strategy for TOF, and designate patients as complete or staged repair. Manual chart review at 1 PHIS center was performed to validate this process. RESULTS: Between January 2004 and March 2015, 5862 patients were identified in step 1. Step 2 of cohort assembly excluded 3425 patients (58%); step 3 excluded 148 patients (3%); and step 4 excluded 54 patients (1%). The final cohort consisted of 2235 neonates with TOF from 45 hospitals. Manual chart review of 336 patients showed a positive predictive value for accurate PHIS identification of 44% after step 1 and 97% after step 4. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic cohort identification algorithm resulted in a high positive predictive value to appropriately categorize patients. This carefully assembled cohort offers a unique opportunity for future studies in neonatal TOF outcomes.

Parental Sources of Support and Guidance When Making Difficult Decisions in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

OBJECTIVE: To assess sources of support and guidance on which parents rely when making difficult decisions in the pediatric intensive care unit and to evaluate associations of sources of support and guidance to anxiety, depression, and positive and negative affect. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study of 86 English-speaking parents of 75 children in the pediatric intensive care unit at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who were hospitalized greater than 72 hours. Parents completed standardized instruments and a novel sources of support and guidance assessment. RESULTS: Most parents chose physicians, nurses, friends, and extended family as their main sources of support and guidance when making a difficult decision. Descriptive analysis revealed a broad distribution for the sources of support and guidance items related to spirituality. Parents tended to fall into 1 of 2 groups when we used latent class analysis: the more-spiritual group (n = 47; 55%) highly ranked "what my child wants" (P = .023), spouses (P = .002), support groups (P = .003), church community (P < .001), spiritual leader (P < .001), higher power (P < .001), and prayer (P < .001) compared with the less-spiritual group (n = 39; 45%). The more-spiritual parents had greater positive affect scores (P = .005). Less-spiritual parents had greater depression scores (P = .043). CONCLUSIONS: Parents rely most on physicians, nurses, and friends and extended family when making difficult decisions for their critically ill child. Respondents tended to fall into 1 of 2 groups where the more-spiritual respondents were associated with greater positive affect and may be more resistant to depression.

Association between state school nutrition laws and subsequent child obesity.

Many states have enacted laws to improve school nutrition. We tested whether stronger state nutrition laws are associated with subsequently decreased obesity. We conducted a retrospective national multi-year panel data study (analyzed 2014-2016 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). The predictors were 2010 laws regarding 9 nutrition categories from the Classification of Laws Associated with School Students, which grades the strength of state laws (none, weak, or strong). The outcome was weight status (healthy weight, overweight, or obese) in elementary, middle, and high school from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children's Health. We tested the association between the strength of laws and weight using multinomial logistic regression. To further evaluate our main results, we conducted state-level longitudinal analyses testing the association between competitive food and beverage laws on the change in obesity from 2003-2011. In main analyses of 40,177 children ages 10-17years, we found strong state laws restricting the sale of competitive food and beverages in elementary school (OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.96) and strong advertising laws across all grades (OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.86) were associated with reduced odds of obesity. In longitudinal analyses, states with strong competitive food and beverage laws from 2003-2010 had small but significant decreases in obesity, compared to states with no laws. Although further research is needed to determine the causal effect of these laws, this study suggests that strong state laws limiting the sale and advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages in schools are associated with decreased obesity rates.

Quantifying parental preferences for interventions designed to improve home food preparation and home food environments during early childhood.

Though preparing healthy food at home is a critical health promotion habit, few interventions have aimed to improve parental cooking skills and behaviors. We sought to understand parents' preferences and priorities regarding interventions to improve home food preparation practices and home food environments during early childhood. We administered a discrete choice experiment using maximum difference scaling. Eighty English-speaking parents of healthy 1-4 year-old children rated the relative importance of potential attributes of interventions to improve home food preparation practices and home food environments. We performed latent class analysis to identify subgroups of parents with similar preferences and tested for differences between the subgroups. Participants were mostly white or black 21-45 year-old women whose prevalence of overweight/obesity mirrored the general population. Latent class analysis revealed three distinct groups of parental preferences for intervention content: a healthy cooking group, focused on nutrition and cooking healthier food; a child persuasion group, focused on convincing toddlers to eat home-cooked food; and a creative cooking group, focused on cooking without recipes, meal planning, and time-saving strategies. Younger, lower income, 1-parent households comprised the healthy cooking group, while older, higher income, 2-parent households comprised the creative cooking group (p < 0.05). The child persuasion group was more varied with regard to age, income, and household structure but cooked dinner regularly, unlike the other two groups (p < 0.05). Discrete choice experiments using maximum difference scaling can be employed to design and tailor interventions to change health behaviors. Segmenting a diverse target population by needs and preferences enables the tailoring and optimization of future interventions to improve parental home food preparation practices. Such interventions are important for creating healthier home food environments and preventing obesity starting from early childhood.

Childhood Asthma Hospital Discharge Medication Fills and Risk of Subsequent Readmission.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between posthospitalization prescription fills for recommended asthma discharge medication classes and subsequent hospital readmission. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of Medicaid Analytic Extract files from 12 geographically diverse states from 2005-2007. We linked inpatient hospitalization, outpatient, and prescription claims records for children ages 2-18 years with an index hospitalization for asthma to identify those who filled a short-acting beta agonist, oral corticosteroid, or inhaled corticosteroid within 3 days of discharge. We used a multivariable extended Cox model to investigate the association of recommended medication fills and hospital readmission within 90 days. RESULTS: Of 31,658 children hospitalized, 55% filled a beta agonist prescription, 57% an oral steroid, and 37% an inhaled steroid. Readmission occurred for 1.3% of patients by 14 days and 6.3% by 90 days. Adjusting for patient and billing provider factors, beta agonist (hazard ratio [HR] 0.67, 95% CI 0.51, 0.87) and inhaled steroid (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42, 0.85) fill were associated with a reduction in readmission at 14 days. Between 15 and 90 days, inhaled steroid fill was associated with decreased readmission (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77, 0.98). Patients who filled all 3 medications had the lowest readmission hazard within both intervals. CONCLUSIONS: Filling of beta agonists and inhaled steroids was associated with diminished hazard of early readmission. For inhaled steroids, this effect persisted up to 90 days. Efforts to improve discharge care for asthma should include enhancing recommended discharge medication fill rates.

Problems and hopes perceived by mothers, fathers and physicians of children receiving palliative care.

BACKGROUND: The quality of shared decision making for children with serious illness may depend on whether parents and physicians share similar perceptions of problems and hopes for the child. OBJECTIVE: (i) Describe the problems and hopes reported by mothers, fathers and physicians of children receiving palliative care; (ii) examine the observed concordance between participants; (iii) examine parental perceived agreement; and (iv) examine whether parents who identified specific problems also specified corresponding hopes, or whether the problems were left 'hopeless'. METHOD: Seventy-one parents and 43 physicians were asked to report problems and hopes and perceived agreement for 50 children receiving palliative care. Problems and hopes were classified into eight domains. Observed concordance was calculated between parents and between each parent and the physicians. RESULTS: The most common problem domains were physical body (88%), quality of life (74%) and medical knowledge (48%). The most common hope domains were quality of life (88%), suffering (76%) and physical body (39%). Overall parental dyads demonstrated a high percentage of concordance (82%) regarding reported problem domains and a lower percentage of concordance on hopes (65%). Concordance between parents and physicians regarding specific children was lower on problem (65-66%) and hope domains (59-63%). Respondents who identified problems regarding a child's quality of life or suffering were likely to also report corresponding hopes in these domains (93 and 82%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Asking parents and physicians to talk about problems and hopes may provide a straightforward means to improve the quality of shared decision making for critically ill children.

Predictors of antiemetic alteration in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Better knowledge of patient and cancer treatment factors associated with nausea/vomiting (NV) in pediatric oncology patients could enhance prophylaxis. We aimed to describe such factors in children receiving treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study of 1,668 hospitalized children undergoing treatment for AML from the Pediatric Health Information System database (39 hospitals, 1999-2010). Antiemetic alteration, which included switch (a change in prescribed 5-HT3 receptor antagonists) and rescue (receipt of an adjunct antiemetic), were first validated and then used as surrogates of problematic NV. Logistic and negative binomial regression modeling were used to test whether patient characteristics were associated with problematic NV. RESULTS: Increasing age is associated with greater odds of experiencing antiemetic switch and higher relative rate of antiemetic rescue. Within a treatment cycle, each consecutive inpatient chemotherapy day decreased the likelihood of requiring antiemetic alteration. Each consecutive inpatient-day post-chemotherapy was associated with decreased need for switch, but increased need for rescue. Subsequent cycles of AML therapy were associated with lower odds of antiemetic switch on both chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy days, a lower rate of antiemetic rescue on chemotherapy days, and an increased rate of rescue on non-chemotherapy days. CONCLUSION: In pediatric patients with AML, increasing age is strongly associated with greater antiemetic alteration. Antiemetic alteration occurs early in treatment overall, and early within each admission. While additional cycles of therapy are associated with less alteration overall, there is persistent rescue in the days after chemotherapy, suggesting additional etiologies of NV in pediatric cancer patients.