Disordered eating behaviors in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease in remission or mild-moderate disease activity.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder that affects the gastrointestinal tract. Disordered eating describes irregular eating behaviors that may be a precursor to an eating disorder diagnosis. Higher rates of disordered eating have been described in chronic diseases. Screening for disordered eating is not performed in pediatric patients with IBD. The goal of this longitudinal study was to use the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) to screen pediatric patients with IBD for disordered eating, estimate our population's prevalence, identify potential risk factors, and correlate positive EAT-26 screen results with evaluation in adolescent medicine clinic. METHODS: Eighty patients with IBD between 10 and 21 years completed the EAT-26 questionnaire during gastroenterology clinic visit. Disease activity was measured using Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) and Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI). Patients also rated their own disease activity on a numerical scale. RESULTS: Five patients had a positive EAT-26 screen and were evaluated in the adolescent medicine clinic. One hundred percent of those who screened positive were diagnosed with a concomitant eating disorder once evaluated. Only 20% of those who screened positive had active IBD. Higher weight, body mass index, and patient perception of disease activity were associated with increased EAT-26 score. CONCLUSION: Pediatric patients with IBD are at risk for disordered eating, with a prevalence of 6% in our population, which is twice the prevalence of disordered eating in the general population. The EAT-26 questionnaire is a feasible tool to screen pediatric IBD patients for disordered eating.

The social work discipline in the management of Failure to thrive in infants and children: an integrated behavioral health approach to pediatric programming.

Failure to thrive (FTT) is a DSM-5/ICD-10 diagnosis which describes infants and children who fail to grow within expected norms. The causes for poor growth are multifactorial and often include psychosocial factors. Social workers are important players in an interdisciplinary team approach to this diagnosis. This research and manuscript focus on the use of an integrated infant mental health pediatric model of practice, and outcomes for one case study. The article will review the social worker's role in the treatment of FTT, effective social work services provided in an integrated behavioral health approach, and a review of a cost-benefit analysis of treatment of FTT in a Primary Care Facility verses a hospital setting.

Transition of young adults with metabolic bone diseases to adult care.

As more accurate diagnostic tools and targeted therapies become increasingly available for pediatric metabolic bone diseases, affected children have a better prognosis and significantly longer lifespan. With this potential for fulfilling lives as adults comes the need for dedicated transition and intentional care of these patients as adults. Much work has gone into improving the transitions of medically fragile children into adulthood, encompassing endocrinologic conditions like type 1 diabetes mellitus and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. However, there are gaps in the literature regarding similar guidance concerning metabolic bone conditions. This article intends to provide a brief review of research and guidelines for transitions of care more generally, followed by a more detailed treatment of bone disorders specifically. Considerations for such transitions include final adult height, fertility, fetal risk, heritability, and access to appropriately identified specialists. A nutrient-dense diet, optimal mobility, and adequate vitamin D stores are protective factors for these conditions. Primary bone disorders include hypophosphatasia, X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, and osteogenesis imperfecta. Metabolic bone disease can also develop secondarily as a sequela of such diverse exposures as hypogonadism, a history of eating disorder, and cancer treatment. This article synthesizes research by experts of these specific disorders to describe what is known in this field of transition medicine for metabolic bone diseases as well as unanswered questions. The long-term objective is to develop and implement strategies for successful transitions for all patients affected by these various conditions.

Improving Sexually Transmitted Infection Screening in Inpatient Pediatric Patients.

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a group of infectious diseases that cause acute illness and lifelong health effects. Half of the diagnosed cases occur in adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 24. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide guidelines for STI screening for sexually active adolescents. Despite this, screening rates in adolescents admitted to our hospital are low. The purpose of this study is to use quality improvement methodology to improve the percent of adolescent patients who had documentation of sexual histories from 49% to 69% and STI testing from 29% to 49%. METHODS: Eligible patients included adolescents ages 14 to 18 admitted to our hospital's academic general pediatric service. After baseline data collection, we introduced a series of 6 interventions; percentages of sexual history documentation and STI screening were recorded monthly. Interventions included resident education on STI screening, history, and physical form prompts for sexual history documentation, "badge buddy" sexual history templates, faculty development, and an electronic medical record template. Data were interpreted by using statistical process control to show process change. RESULTS: Before the interventions, 48.7% of patients ages 14 to 18 had sexual histories documented; 29.1% of patients were tested for STIs. After interventions, there was a special cause variation resulting in new center lines of 67.1% and 49.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Simple interventions to normalize and standardize adolescent sexual history discussions cumulatively led to a significant increase in sexual history documentation and STI screening in an inpatient adolescent population.

A clinical audit of oral anticoagulant therapy in aged care residents with atrial fibrillation.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a risk factor for stroke in older people. Oral anticoagulants can reduce stroke risk but they are commonly under prescribed in the elderly, often due to concerns regarding the risk of bleeding. Prescribing in aged care residents may also be further complicated by associated geriatric conditions such as dementia and risk of falls. Systematic assessment of stroke and bleed risk can help identify people with AF expected to benefit from anticoagulant therapy and optimise prescribing. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the prescribing of anticoagulants in elderly aged care residents in accordance with Australian guideline recommendations. Setting Nineteen aged care facilities across southeast Queensland. Method A clinical audit of anticoagulant therapy in aged care residents was conducted. Main outcome measure Information was collected from the records of residents with non-valvular AF to assess the risk of stroke and bleeding and compare this prescribing to current evidence-based guidelines for anticoagulation in AF. Results A total of 1754 residents were screened with 359 (20.4%) identified to have a diagnosis of non-valvular AF. There were 356 (99.2%) residents with non-valvular AF and a sufficiently high risk of stroke to warrant the use of an anticoagulant. Of these, 172 (48.3%) were prescribed an oral anticoagulant and 40 (11.2%) residents had a documented decision not to prescribe oral anticoagulants in their records. The majority of residents prescribed anticoagulation were receiving non-vitamin K antagonists (76.8%). The prescribed dose was consistent with recommendations for 44.8% of residents prescribed oral anticoagulant therapy. Conclusion Many residents with non-valvular AF and significant risk of stroke were not receiving oral anticoagulation despite a lack of documented reason for non-prescribing. Non-vitamin K antagonists were widely prescribed but dosing of these agents could still be improved. There remains a need to improve anticoagulant prescribing for aged care residents and optimise stroke prevention in this population.

Sexually Transmitted Infections and Contraceptive Use in Adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Although a number of contraception methods exist, long-acting reversible contraceptives have been recommended for female adolescents owing to their low failure rates. However, concern exists that the increasing use of long-acting reversible contraceptive among female adolescents may have unintended consequences of decreasing condom use for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. Despite this concern, few studies have directly explored the relationship between the use of long-acting reversible contraceptive versus other forms of contraception and diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections in female adolescents. This study compares the rates of sexually transmitted infection diagnosis following various forms of contraceptive use. METHODS: This study was an archival data analysis of single state Medicaid claims retrieved for female adolescents, aged 14-19 years, who received a contraceptive prescription and had 1 year of follow-up data available (n=62,550) between 2011 and 2015. Incidence of sexually transmitted infections was the outcome of interest. Data analysis was conducted in 2018. RESULTS: Compared with the contraceptive pill, hormonal implant (a form of long-acting reversible contraceptives) was associated with significantly lower risk of sexually transmitted infections (hazard ratio=0.81; 95% CI=0.70, 0.93; p=0.004), and hormonal injection was associated with higher risk of sexually transmitted infections (hazard ratio=1.08; 95% CI=1.00, 1.16; p=0.040). CONCLUSIONS: This analysis provides strong evidence that the risk for the acquisition of sexually transmitted infections is no higher for long-acting reversible contraceptives than for other forms of contraception. These results support the use of long-acting reversible contraceptive in female adolescents, as proposed and reaffirmed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Academy of Pediatrics.

Improving Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination Rates: Quality Improvement.

BACKGROUND: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection with a national prevalence of greater than 70 million. Most infections are among persons 15-24 years of age. The HPV vaccine has nearly 100% efficacy when administered before natural exposure. However, national vaccination rates remain less than 50%. Our objective was to improve the rate of initiation of the HPV vaccination series in a resident teaching practice. METHODS: We used the Plan Do Study Act methodology for quality improvement. Eligible patients included children 9 through 13 years of age who presented to a general pediatric clinic. We established baseline data by reviewing HPV immunization rates taken from a convenience sample of ≤20 patients per month over 7 months. A key driver diagram guided interventions including resident communication, nursing staff education, family knowledge, and an electronic medical record prompt beginning at age 9. Using standard run chart rules, we plotted monthly postintervention vaccination rates over 7 months of data collection. RESULTS: Baseline data included 136 patients age 9-13. Run chart monitoring revealed an increase in our HPV vaccination rate from 53% at baseline to 62% by October 2015. Additionally, we observed a statistically significant increase in mean vaccination rates from 50% to 69% (odds ratio 2.071; P = 0.0042). We noted an increase in vaccination rates after resident education initiatives and after implementation of an electronic medical record prompt. CONCLUSIONS: Simple and practical interventions involving residents led to a marked increase in HPV vaccination in our patient population.