Adolescents' Perceptions of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Service at Pediatric Trauma Centers.

Objective: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for adolescent alcohol and drug (AOD) use is recommended to occur with adolescents admitted to pediatric trauma centers. Most metrics on SBIRT service delivery only reference medical record documentation. In this analysis we examined changes in adolescents' perception of SBIRT services and concordance of adolescent-report and medical record data, among a sample of adolescents admitted before and after institutional SBIRT implementation. Methods: We implemented SBIRT for adolescent AOD use using the Science to Service Laboratory implementation strategy and enrolled adolescents at 9 pediatric trauma centers. The recommended clinical workflow was for nursing to screen, social work to provide adolescents screening positive with brief intervention and referral to their PCP for continued AOD discussions with those. Adolescents screening as high-risk also referred to specialty services. Adolescents were enrolled and contacted 30 days after discharge and asked about their perception of any SBIRT services received. Data were also extracted from enrolled patient's medical record. Results: There were 430 adolescents enrolled, with 424 that were matched to their EHR data and 329 completed the 30-day survey. In this sample, EHR documented screening increased from pre-implementation to post-implementation (16.3%-65.7%) and brief interventions increased (27.1%-40.7%). Adolescents self-reported higher rates of being asked about alcohol or drug use than in EHR data both pre- and post-implementation (80.7%-81%). Both EHR data and adolescent self-reported data demonstrated low referral back to PCP for continued AOD discussions. Conclusions: Implementation of SBIRT at pediatric trauma centers was not associated with change in adolescent perceptions of SBIRT, despite improved documentation of delivery of AOD screening and interventions. Adolescents perceived being asked about AOD use more often than was documented. Referral to PCP or specialty care for continued AOD discussion remains an area of needed attention. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03297060.

Implementing Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referral to Treatment at Pediatric Trauma Centers: A Step Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric trauma centers have had challenges meeting the American College of Surgeons criteria for screening and intervening for alcohol with adolescent trauma patients. The study objective was to conduct an implementation trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the Science to Service Laboratory (SSL) implementation strategy in improving alcohol and other drugs (AOD) screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) delivery at pediatric trauma centers. METHODS: Using a stepped wedge cross-over cluster randomized design, 10 US pediatric trauma centers received the SSL implementation strategy to deliver SBIRT with admitted adolescent (12-17 years old) trauma patients. The strategy adapted three core SSL elements: didactic training, performance feedback, and facilitation. The main outcome measured was SBIRT reach. Data were collected from each center's electronic health record (EHR) during pre- and post-implementation wedges (2018-2022). RESULTS: EHR data from 8461 adolescent patients were extracted. Aggregated across all sites, the reach of screening with a validated AOD screening tool increased significantly from 25.2% (95% CI: 23.9, 26.5%) of adolescents during pre-implementation to 47.7% (95% CI: 46.3%, 49.2%) post-implementation. There was variability of change across centers. Brief interventions continued to be delivered at high levels to identified adolescents. Referral to primary care providers for further AOD discussion or referral to specialty service for adolescents with high risk use did not improve post-implementation and remained low. CONCLUSIONS: The SSL implementation strategy can be successfully utilized by pediatric trauma centers to improve AOD screening, but challenges exist in connecting adolescents for continuation of AOD discussions after discharge. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, Therapeutic.

The Modified Five-Item Frailty Index, Mortality, and Hospital Length of Stay in Geriatric Traumatic Fall Injuries.

This study investigates the association between frailty, measured by the modified five-item frailty index (mFI-5), with inpatient mortality and hospital length of stay for geriatric patients with fall-related injuries. Despite falls being major contributors to morbidity and mortality in those over 65, the interaction between frailty and post-fall outcomes remains underexplored. Data for patients aged 65 and above, admitted between 2014-2020 to Rhode Island Hospital's trauma service for fall-related injuries, were extracted from its Trauma Registry. Frailty scores were retrospectively assigned using mFI-5. Logistic- and linear-regression analyses examined the relationship between mFI-5 scores, mortality, and hospital length-of-stay. Among 6,782 patients (mean age: 81.7 ± 8.66 years), higher frailty scores correlated with increased inpatient mortality (OR: 1.259; 95% CI: 1.14-1.39; P<0.000) and longer hospital stays (Coeff.: 0.460; 95% CI: 0.35-0.57, P<0.000). Notably, age showed a negative association with hospital length of stay but no significant association with inpatient mortality.

Implementation and Assessment of the HIV Enhanced Access Testing in the Emergency Department (HEATED) Program in Nairobi, Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Prospective Study.

Background: Persons seeking emergency injury care are often from underserved key populations (KPs) and priority populations (PPs) for HIV programming. While facility-based HIV Testing Services (HTS) in Kenya are effective, emergency department (ED) delivery is limited, despite the potential to reach underserved persons. Methods: This quasi-experimental prospective study evaluated implementation of the HIV Enhanced Access Testing in Emergency Departments (HEATED) at Kenyatta National Hospital ED in Nairobi, Kenya. The HEATED program was designed using setting specific data and utilizes resource reorganization, services integration and HIV sensitization to promote ED-HTS. KPs included sex workers, gay men, men who have sex with men, transgender persons and persons who inject drugs. PPs included young persons (18-24 years), victims of interpersonal violence, persons with hazardous alcohol use and those never previously HIV tested. Data were obtained from systems-level records, enrolled injured patient participants and healthcare providers. Systems and patient-level data were collected during a pre-implementation period (6 March - 16 April 2023) and post-implementation (period 1, 1 May - 26 June 2023). Additional, systems-level data were collected during a second post-implementation (period 2, 27 June - 20 August 2023). Evaluation analyses were completed across reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance framework domains. Results: All 151 clinical staff were reached through trainings and sensitizations on the HEATED program. Systems-level ED-HTS increased from 16.7% pre-implementation to 23.0% post-implementation periods 1 and 2 (RR=1.31, 95% CI:1.21-1.43; p<0.001) with a 62.9% relative increase in HIV self-test kit provision. Among 605 patient participants, facilities-based HTS increased from 5.7% pre-implementation to 62.3% post-implementation period 1 (RR=11.2, 95%CI:6.9-18.1; p<0.001). There were 440 (72.7%) patient participants identified as KPs (5.6%) and/or PPs (65.3%). For enrolled KPs/PPs, HTS increased from 4.6% pre-implementation to 72.3% post-implementation period 1 (RR=13.8, 95%CI:5.5-28.7, p<0.001). Systems and participant level data demonstrated successful adoption and implementation of the HEATED program. Through 16-weeks post-implementation a significant increase in ED-HTS delivery was maintained as compared to pre-implementation. Conclusions: The HEATED program increased ED-HTS and augmented delivery to KPs/PPs, suggesting that broader implementation could improve HIV services for underserved persons, already in contact with health systems.

Overdosing in a Motor Vehicle: Examination of Human, Geographic, and Environmental Factors.

BACKGROUND: Fentanyl, a type of opioid, in impaired driving cases increased across cities in the United States. OBJECTIVES: No empirical studies have examined motor vehicle overdoses with fentanyl use. We investigated the magnitude of the motor vehicle overdose problem in Providence, RI, and the environmental, socioeconomic, and geographic conditions associated with motor vehicle overdose occurrence. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study of emergency medical services data on all suspected opioid overdoses between January 1, 2017, and October 31, 2020. The data contain forced-choice fields, such as age and biological sex, and an open-ended narrative in which the paramedic documented clinical and situational information. The overdoses were geocoded, allowing for the extraction of sociodemographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Seven other data sources were included in a logistic regression to understand key risk factors and spatial patterns of motor vehicle overdoses. RESULTS: Of the 1,357 opioid overdose cases in this analysis, 15.2% were defined as motor vehicle overdoses. In adjusted models, we found a 61% increase in the odds of a motor vehicle overdose involvement for men versus women, a 16.8% decrease in the odds of a motor vehicle overdose for a one-unit increase in distance to the nearest gas station, and a 10.7% decrease in the odds of a motor vehicle overdose for a one-unit increase in distance to a buprenorphine clinic. CONCLUSION: There is a need to understand the interaction between drug use in vehicles to design interventions for decreasing driving after illicit drug use.

Assessment of substance use among injured persons seeking emergency care in Nairobi, Kenya

ntroduction: Trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya. In many countries, substance use is common among patients presenting with injuries to an emergency center (EC). Objective: To describe the epidemiology of self-reported substance use among adult injured patients seeking ED care in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study, assessed patients presenting with injuries to the Kenyatta Na-tional Hospital ED in Nairobi, Kenya from March through June of 2021. Data on substance use, injury character-istics and ED disposition were collected. Substances of interest were alcohol, stimulants, marijuana, and opiates.The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise (AUDIT-C) tool was used to characterize hazardous alcoholuse. Results: A total of 1,282 patients were screened for participation, of which 646 were enrolled. Among participants,322 (49.8%) reported substance use in the past month (AUDIT-C positive, stimulants, opiates, and/or marijuana). Hazardous alcohol use was reported by 271 (42.0%) patients who screened positive with AUDIT-C. Polysubstance use, (≥2 substances) was reported by 87 participants in the past month. Median time from injury to ED arrival was 13.1 h for all enrolees, and this number was significantly higher among substance users (median 15.4 h, IQR 5.5 - 25.5; p = 0.029). Conclusions: In the population studied, reported substance use was common with a substantial proportion of injured persons screening positive for hazardous alcohol use. Those with substance use had later presentations for injury care. These data suggest that ED programming for substance use disorder screening and care linkagecould be impactful in the study setting.