Ranking Future Outcomes Most Important to Parents of Children with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess which potential future outcomes are most important to parents of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a disease that affects future respiratory, medical, and developmental outcomes for children born preterm. STUDY DESIGN: We recruited parents from 2 children's hospitals' neonatal follow-up clinics and elicited their importance rating for 20 different potential future outcomes associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. These outcomes were identified and selected through a literature review and discussions with panels of parents and clinician stakeholders, via a discrete choice experiment. RESULTS: One hundred and 5 parents participated. Overall, parents ranked "Will my child be more vulnerable to other problems because of having lung disease?" as the most important outcome, with other respiratory health related outcomes also highly ranked. Outcomes related to child development and effects on the family were among the lowest ranked. Individually, parents rated outcomes differently, resulting in a broad distribution of importance scores for many of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The overall rankings suggest that parents prioritize future outcomes related to physical health and safety. Notably, for guiding research, some top-rated outcomes are not traditionally measured in outcome studies. For guiding individual counseling, the broad distribution of importance scores for many outcomes highlights the extent to which parents differ in their prioritization of outcomes.

Association of Broad- vs Narrow-Spectrum Antibiotics With Treatment Failure, Adverse Events, and Quality of Life in Children With Acute Respiratory Tract Infections.

Importance: Acute respiratory tract infections account for the majority of antibiotic exposure in children, and broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections is increasing. It is not clear whether broad-spectrum treatment is associated with improved outcomes compared with narrow-spectrum treatment. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of broad-spectrum and narrow-spectrum antibiotic treatment for acute respiratory tract infections in children. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective cohort study assessing clinical outcomes and a prospective cohort study assessing patient-centered outcomes of children between the ages of 6 months and 12 years diagnosed with an acute respiratory tract infection and prescribed an oral antibiotic between January 2015 and April 2016 in a network of 31 pediatric primary care practices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Stratified and propensity score-matched analyses to account for confounding by clinician and by patient-level characteristics, respectively, were implemented for both cohorts. Exposures: Broad-spectrum antibiotics vs narrow-spectrum antibiotics. Main Outcomes and Measures: In the retrospective cohort, the primary outcomes were treatment failure and adverse events 14 days after diagnosis. In the prospective cohort, the primary outcomes were quality of life, other patient-centered outcomes, and patient-reported adverse events. Results: Of 30 159 children in the retrospective cohort (19 179 with acute otitis media; 6746, group A streptococcal pharyngitis; and 4234, acute sinusitis), 4307 (14%) were prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics including amoxicillin-clavulanate, cephalosporins, and macrolides. Broad-spectrum treatment was not associated with a lower rate of treatment failure (3.4% for broad-spectrum antibiotics vs 3.1% for narrow-spectrum antibiotics; risk difference for full matched analysis, 0.3% [95% CI, -0.4% to 0.9%]). Of 2472 children enrolled in the prospective cohort (1100 with acute otitis media; 705, group A streptococcal pharyngitis; and 667, acute sinusitis), 868 (35%) were prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics. Broad-spectrum antibiotics were associated with a slightly worse child quality of life (score of 90.2 for broad-spectrum antibiotics vs 91.5 for narrow-spectrum antibiotics; score difference for full matched analysis, -1.4% [95% CI, -2.4% to -0.4%]) but not with other patient-centered outcomes. Broad-spectrum treatment was associated with a higher risk of adverse events documented by the clinician (3.7% for broad-spectrum antibiotics vs 2.7% for narrow-spectrum antibiotics; risk difference for full matched analysis, 1.1% [95% CI, 0.4% to 1.8%]) and reported by the patient (35.6% for broad-spectrum antibiotics vs 25.1% for narrow-spectrum antibiotics; risk difference for full matched analysis, 12.2% [95% CI, 7.3% to 17.2%]). Conclusions and Relevance: Among children with acute respiratory tract infections, broad-spectrum antibiotics were not associated with better clinical or patient-centered outcomes compared with narrow-spectrum antibiotics, and were associated with higher rates of adverse events. These data support the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics for most children with acute respiratory tract infections.

Parent perspectives on family-based psychosocial interventions in pediatric cancer: a mixed-methods approach.

Family-based interventions in pediatric cancer face challenges associated with integrating psychosocial care into a period of intensive treatment and escalating stress. Little research has sought input from parents on the role of interventions delivered shortly after diagnosis. This mixed-methods study obtained parents' perspectives on the potential role of family-based interventions. Twenty-five parents provided feedback on the structure and timing of psychosocial interventions via focus groups and a questionnaire. Qualitative analyses resulted in three themes that were illustrative of a traumatic stress framework: (1) tension between focusing on child with cancer and addressing other family needs, (2) factors influencing parents' perception of a shared experience with other parents, and (3) the importance of matching interventions to the trajectory of parent adjustment. Quantitative data indicated that parents preferred intervention within 6 months of diagnosis, with almost half favoring within 2 months of diagnosis, and the majority wanted interventions targeted to parents only. Qualitative themes highlight the importance of using a traumatic stress framework to inform the development of family-based interventions for those affected by pediatric cancer.

Disclosure of Adverse Events: A Guide for Clinicians.

INTRODUCTION: Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS) acknowledged a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop education programs on the communication of adverse events with patients and families. SPS set out to create a guide that would outline a standardized disclosure process and provide a training curriculum and tools so that providers would feel better prepared to have effective disclosure conversations. METHODS: SPS disclosure work began with the development of a project team made up of 9 network hospitals. The team utilized key driver diagrams and process maps to show the relationship between the project aims, key drivers, and specific interventions. The team developed a training curriculum, guide, and tools for each area of improvement. To ensure these were effective, they were tested using case studies and plan-do-study-act cycles. RESULTS: One of the cohort hospitals piloted the curriculum and tools, training 48 physicians, nurses, executives, and other allied health professionals. Pretest to posttest scores improved from an average of 82.7% to 90.2%. Survey feedback was favorable with 100% of respondents noting that they strongly agree or agree that attending this educational activity increased or improved their competency, performance, and patient outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Initial testing suggests that the developed curriculum is empowering for frontline clinicians. Materials are available in an electronic format on the SPS external website. As member hospitals implement these materials, they will be evaluating learner satisfaction and provider usage. SPS will seek out feedback from these hospitals to further develop the materials and support clinicians.