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1.
JAMA Netw Open ; 7(5): e2411259, 2024 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38748429

ABSTRACT

Importance: There is a lack of randomized clinical trial (RCT) data to guide many routine decisions in the care of children hospitalized for common conditions. A first step in addressing the shortage of RCTs for this population is to identify the most pressing RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions. Objective: To identify the most important and feasible RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions. Design, Setting, and Participants: For this consensus statement, a 3-stage modified Delphi process was used in a virtual conference series spanning January 1 to September 29, 2022. Forty-six individuals from 30 different institutions participated in the process. Stage 1 involved construction of RCT questions for the 10 most common pediatric conditions leading to hospitalization. Participants used condition-specific guidelines and reviews from a structured literature search to inform their development of RCT questions. During stage 2, RCT questions were refined and scored according to importance. Stage 3 incorporated public comment and feasibility with the prioritization of RCT questions. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was RCT questions framed in a PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcome) format and ranked according to importance and feasibility; score choices ranged from 1 to 9, with higher scores indicating greater importance and feasibility. Results: Forty-six individuals (38 who shared demographic data; 24 women [63%]) from 30 different institutions participated in our modified Delphi process. Participants included children's hospital (n = 14) and community hospital (n = 13) pediatricians, parents of hospitalized children (n = 4), other clinicians (n = 2), biostatisticians (n = 2), and other researchers (n = 11). The process yielded 62 unique RCT questions, most of which are pragmatic, comparing interventions in widespread use for which definitive effectiveness data are lacking. Overall scores for importance and feasibility of the RCT questions ranged from 1 to 9, with a median of 5 (IQR, 4-7). Six of the top 10 selected questions focused on determining optimal antibiotic regimens for 3 common infections (pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and cellulitis). Conclusions and Relevance: This consensus statementhas identified the most important and feasible RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions. This list of RCT questions can guide investigators and funders in conducting impactful trials to improve care and outcomes for hospitalized children.


Subject(s)
Consensus , Delphi Technique , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Humans , Child , Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data , Female , Male , Child, Hospitalized , Child, Preschool , Infant
2.
Pediatrics ; 153(5)2024 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38682254

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) for bronchiolitis increased over the past decade without clear benefit. This quality improvement collaborative aimed to reduce HFNC initiation and treatment duration by 30% from baseline. METHODS: Participating hospitals either reduced HFNC initiation (Pause) or treatment duration (Holiday) in patients aged <24 months admitted for bronchiolitis. Participants received either Pause or Holiday toolkits, including: intervention protocol, training/educational materials, electronic medical record queries for data acquisition, small-group coaching, webinars, and real-time access to run charts. Pause arm primary outcome was proportion of patients initiated on HFNC. Holiday arm primary outcome was geometric mean HFNC treatment duration. Length of stay (LOS) was balancing measure for both. Each arm served as contemporaneous controls for the other. Outcomes analyzed using interrupted time series (ITS) and linear mixed-effects regression. RESULTS: Seventy-one hospitals participated, 30 in the Pause (5746 patients) and 41 in the Holiday (7903 patients). Pause arm unadjusted HFNC initiation decreased 32% without LOS change. ITS showed immediate 16% decrease in initiation (95% confidence interval [CI] -27% to -5%). Compared with contemporaneous controls, Pause hospitals reduced HFNC initiation by 23% (95% CI -35% to -10%). Holiday arm unadjusted HFNC duration decreased 28% without LOS change. ITS showed immediate 11.8 hour decrease in duration (95% CI -18.3 hours to -5.2 hours). Compared with contemporaneous controls, Holiday hospitals reduced duration by 11 hours (95% CI -20.7 hours to -1.3 hours). CONCLUSIONS: This quality improvement collaborative reduced HFNC initiation and duration without LOS increase. Contemporaneous control analysis supports intervention effects rather than secular trends toward less use.


Subject(s)
Bronchiolitis , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy , Quality Improvement , Humans , Bronchiolitis/therapy , Infant , Male , Female , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy/methods , Length of Stay , Cannula , Infant, Newborn , Interrupted Time Series Analysis
3.
Pediatrics ; 153(5)2024 May 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38682258

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Nearly 25% of antibiotics prescribed to children are inappropriate or unnecessary, subjecting patients to avoidable adverse medication effects and cost. METHODS: We conducted a quality improvement initiative across 118 hospitals participating in the American Academy of Pediatrics Value in Inpatient Pediatrics Network 2020 to 2022. We aimed to increase the proportion of children receiving appropriate: (1) empirical, (2) definitive, and (3) duration of antibiotic therapy for community-acquired pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infections, and urinary tract infections to ≥85% by Jan 1, 2022. Sites reviewed encounters of children >60 days old evaluated in the emergency department or hospital. Interventions included monthly audit with feedback, educational webinars, peer coaching, order sets, and a mobile app containing site-specific, antibiogram-based treatment recommendations. Sites submitted 18 months of baseline, 2-months washout, and 10 months intervention data. We performed interrupted time series (analyses for each measure. RESULTS: Sites reviewed 43 916 encounters (30 799 preintervention, 13 117 post). Overall median [interquartile range] adherence to empirical, definitive, and duration of antibiotic therapy was 67% [65% to 70%]; 74% [72% to 75%] and 61% [58% to 65%], respectively at baseline and was 72% [71% to 72%]; 79% [79% to 80%] and 71% [69% to 73%], respectively, during the intervention period. Interrupted time series revealed a 13% (95% confidence interval: 1% to 26%) intercept change at intervention for empirical therapy and a 1.1% (95% confidence interval: 0.4% to 1.9%) monthly increase in adherence per month for antibiotic duration above baseline rates. Balancing measures of care escalation and revisit or readmission did not increase. CONCLUSIONS: This multisite collaborative increased appropriate antibiotic use for community-acquired pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infections, and urinary tract infection among diverse hospitals.


Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents , Quality Improvement , Urinary Tract Infections , Humans , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Urinary Tract Infections/drug therapy , Child , United States , Community-Acquired Infections/drug therapy , Child, Preschool , Infant , Antimicrobial Stewardship , Soft Tissue Infections/drug therapy , Pneumonia/drug therapy , Female , Guideline Adherence , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Inappropriate Prescribing/prevention & control , Male
4.
medRxiv ; 2024 Feb 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38370642

ABSTRACT

Objective: To address challenges in large-scale electronic health record (EHR) data exchange, we sought to develop, deploy, and test an open source, cloud-hosted app 'listener' that accesses standardized data across the SMART/HL7 Bulk FHIR Access application programming interface (API). Methods: We advance a model for scalable, federated, data sharing and learning. Cumulus software is designed to address key technology and policy desiderata including local utility, control, and administrative simplicity as well as privacy preservation during robust data sharing, and AI for processing unstructured text. Results: Cumulus relies on containerized, cloud-hosted software, installed within a healthcare organization's security envelope. Cumulus accesses EHR data via the Bulk FHIR interface and streamlines automated processing and sharing. The modular design enables use of the latest AI and natural language processing tools and supports provider autonomy and administrative simplicity. In an initial test, Cumulus was deployed across five healthcare systems each partnered with public health. Cumulus output is patient counts which were aggregated into a table stratifying variables of interest to enable population health studies. All code is available open source. A policy stipulating that only aggregate data leave the institution greatly facilitated data sharing agreements. Discussion and Conclusion: Cumulus addresses barriers to data sharing based on (1) federally required support for standard APIs (2), increasing use of cloud computing, and (3) advances in AI. There is potential for scalability to support learning across myriad network configurations and use cases.

5.
J Perinatol ; 44(3): 446-451, 2024 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37474754

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to reduce the time interval between an infant's admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and first maternal interaction. METHODS: We identified three key drivers: 1. Collaboration with Labor and Delivery, 2. Education of staff and parents, and 3. Improved documentation of maternal presence. We measured the time interval from NICU admission to the initial maternal presence. We followed length of stay as a balancing measure to assay whether use of remote televisitation impeded efficient parental teaching and delayed discharge. RESULTS: We reduced the time interval from an average of 19.7 h in February 2020 to 12.3 h in June 2021. We expanded an already existing televisitation program as a surrogate to in-person interaction during COVID-19 pandemic. Televisitation did not affect in-person parental presence or LOS. CONCLUSION: Our multidisciplinary efforts resulted in a significantly accelerated time to initial maternal presence and did not prolong LOS.


Subject(s)
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal , Quality Improvement , Infant, Newborn , Infant , Humans , Pandemics/prevention & control , Parents , Hospitalization
6.
Cureus ; 15(8): e43329, 2023 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37700955

ABSTRACT

Air leak syndrome (ALS) is defined as the extrusion of air from an aerated compartment into an unaerated compartment with associated symptoms of respiratory distress. This syndrome can occur as a consequence of trauma, iatrogenic causes, or spontaneously. Retrospective investigations conducted in the adult population have demonstrated an elevated risk of spontaneous ALS development in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia, along with its correlation with mortality. However, no studies have yet explored this phenomenon within the pediatric population. In light of this knowledge gap, we conducted a retrospective chart review comprising 128 pediatric patients ranging in age from one month to 18 years. The primary objective was to assess the incidence of ALS in two distinct groups: patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and those with non-COVID-19 viral pneumonia. The groups were compared using Fisher's exact test for sex, the presence of ALS, the requirement of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and death. The modified Wald method was used to calculate the 95% confidence interval for the mortality rate in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in the presence of ALS. Our findings revealed a higher prevalence of ALS in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia compared to the non-COVID-19 viral pneumonia group, with a statistically significant P-value of 0.02 and an odds ratio (OR) of 6.72. In terms of mortality rates, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.025, OR = 1.083). In addition, in patients with ALS in the presence of COVID-19 pneumonia, the mortality rate was 37.5%. However, the requirement of ECMO was not statistically significant (P = 0.16, OR = 1.04). These results suggest that patients with COVID-19 pneumonia have an increased mortality rate and a heightened risk of developing ALS compared to individuals with other viral pneumonias. Furthermore, the presence of ALS was associated with a high mortality rate in COVID-19 pneumonia patients. However, it is crucial to note that obtaining a larger patient sample and involving multiple institutions would be necessary to obtain more consistent and robust data.

7.
Hosp Pediatr ; 13(4): e69-e75, 2023 04 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36938609

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of multicenter data on rates of high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) usage in bronchiolitis in the United States, largely because of the absence of standardized coding, with HFNC often subsumed into the larger category of noninvasive mechanical ventilation. METHODS: We examined HFNC utilization in patients with bronchiolitis from a sample of hospitals participating in a national bronchiolitis quality improvement collaborative. Medical records of patients aged <2 years admitted November 2019 to March 2020 were reviewed and hospital-specific bronchiolitis policies were collected. Exclusion criteria were prematurity <32 weeks, any use of mechanical ventilation, and presence of comorbidities. HFNC utilization (including initiation, initiation location, and treatment duration), and hospital length of stay (LOS) were calculated. HFNC utilization was analyzed by individual hospital HFNC policy characteristics. RESULTS: Sixty-one hospitals contributed data on 8296 patients; HFNC was used in 52% (n = 4286) of admissions, with the most common initiation site being the emergency department (ED) (75%, n = 3226). Hospitals that limited HFNC use to PICUs had reduced odds of initiating HFNC (odds ratio, 0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.3 to 0.4). Hospitals with an ED protocol to delay HFNC initiation had shorter HFNC treatment duration (-12 hours; 95% CI, -15.6 to -8.8) and shorter LOS (-14.9 hours; 95% CI, -18.2 to -11.6). CONCLUSIONS: HFNC was initiated in >50% of patients admitted with bronchiolitis in this hospital cohort, most commonly in the ED. In general, hospitals with policies to limit HFNC use demonstrated decreased odds of HFNC initiation, shorter HFNC duration, and reduced LOS compared with the study population.


Subject(s)
Bronchiolitis , Cannula , Humans , Infant , Bronchiolitis/therapy , Hospitalization , Length of Stay , Hospitals, General , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy
8.
J Transl Med ; 20(1): 619, 2022 12 25.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36567311

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Non-battle related musculoskeletal injuries (MSKI) are one of the primary medical issues diminishing Service member medical readiness. The MSKI problem is challenging because it is difficult to assess all of the factors that increase MSKI risk and influence post-MSKI outcomes. Currently, there are no high-throughput, clinically-feasible, and comprehensive assessments to generate patient-centric data for informing pre- and post-MSKI risk assessment and mitigation strategies. The objective of the "Pre-neuromusculoskeletal injury Risk factor Evaluation and Post-neuromusculoskeletal injury Assessment for Return-to-duty/activity Enhancement (PREPARE)" study is to develop a comprehensive suite of clinical assessments to identify the patient-specific factors contributing to MSKI risks and undesired post-MSKI outcomes. METHODS: This is a phased approach, multi-center prospective, observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT05111925) to identify physical and psychosocial factors contributing to greater MSKI risk and undesired post-MSKI outcomes, and to identify and validate a minimal set of assessments to personalize risk mitigation and rehabilitation strategies. In Phase I, one cohort (n = 560) will identify the physical and psychosocial factors contributing to greater MSKI risks (single assessment), while a second cohort (n = 780) will identify the post-MSKI physical and psychosocial factors contributing to undesired post-MSKI outcomes (serial assessments at enrollment, 4 weeks post-enrollment, 12 weeks post-enrollment). All participants will complete comprehensive movement assessments captured via a semi-automated markerless motion capture system and instrumented walkway, joint range of motion assessments, psychosocial measures, and self-reported physical fitness performance and MSKI history. We will follow participants for 6 months. We will identify the minimum set of clinical assessments that provide requisite data to personalize MSKI risk mitigation and rehabilitation strategies, and in Phase II validate our optimized assessments in new cohorts. DISCUSSION: The results of this investigation will provide clinically relevant data to efficiently inform MSKI risk mitigation and rehabilitation programs, thereby helping to advance medical care and retain Service members on active duty status. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PREPARE was prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05111925) on 5 NOV 2021, prior to study commencement.


Subject(s)
Military Personnel , Humans , Prospective Studies , Health Behavior , Risk Factors , Observational Studies as Topic , Multicenter Studies as Topic
10.
JAMA Pediatr ; 176(1): 26-33, 2022 01 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34779837

ABSTRACT

Importance: Given that hypotonic maintenance intravenous fluids (IVF) may cause hospital-acquired harm, in November 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a clinical practice guideline recommending the use of isotonic IVF for patients aged 28 days to 18 years without contraindications. No recommendations were made regarding laboratory monitoring; however, unnecessary laboratory tests may contribute to health care waste and harm patients. Objective: To examine the effect of a quality improvement intervention bundle on (1) increasing the mean proportion of hours per hospital day with exclusive isotonic IVF use to at least 80% and (2) decreasing the mean proportion of hospital days with laboratory tests obtained. Design, Setting, and Participants: This stepped-wedge, cluster randomized clinical trial (Standardization of Fluids in Inpatient Settings [SOFI]) was sponsored by a national quality improvement collaborative and was conducted across 106 US pediatric hospitals. The SOFI intervention period was from September 2019 to March 2020. Interventions: Hospital sites were exposed to educational materials, a clinical algorithm and order set for IVF use, electronic medical record interventions to reduce laboratory testing, and "harms of overtesting" cards. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were mean proportion of hours per hospital day receiving exclusive isotonic IVF and mean proportion of hospital days with laboratory test values obtained. Secondary measures included total IVF duration per hospital day, daily patient weight measurement while receiving IVF, serum sodium testing, and adverse events. Baseline data were collected for 2 months; intervention period data, 7 months. Outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed-effects regression models. Results: A total of 106 hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 intervention start dates (wedges), and 100 hospitals (94%) completed the study. In total, 5215 hospitalizations were reviewed before the intervention, and 6724 hospitalizations were reviewed after the intervention. Prior to interventions, the mean (SD) proportion of hours per day with exclusive isotonic IVF use was 88.5% (31.7%). Interventions led to an absolute increase of 5.4% (95% CI, 3.9%-6.9%) above baseline in exclusive isotonic IVF use but did not change the proportion of hospital days during which a laboratory test value was obtained (estimated difference, 0.1%; 95% CI, -1.5% to 1.7%; P = .90), IVF use duration (estimated difference, -1.2%; 95% CI, -2.9% to 0.4%), serum sodium testing, or adverse events. There was an absolute increase of 4.4% (95% CI, 2.6%-6.2%) in the mean proportion of hospital days with a patient weight measurement while receiving IVF. Conclusions and Relevance: In this stepped-wedge, cluster randomized clinical trial, an intervention bundle significantly improved the use of isotonic maintenance IVF without a concomitant increase in adverse events or electrolyte testing. Further work is required to deimplement laboratory testing. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03924674.


Subject(s)
Fluid Therapy/methods , Hospitalization/trends , Patient Care Bundles/standards , Quality Improvement/standards , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Cluster Analysis , Female , Fluid Therapy/instrumentation , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Patient Care Bundles/instrumentation , Patient Care Bundles/methods , Pediatrics/methods , Pediatrics/standards , Quality Improvement/trends , Reference Standards
11.
Hosp Pediatr ; 11(11): e346-e348, 2021 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34702723

Subject(s)
Feedback , Humans
12.
Med Mycol Case Rep ; 32: 10-13, 2021 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33511029

ABSTRACT

A 13-year-old girl was admitted for headache, right periorbital swelling and erythema. CT imaging demonstrated right orbital preseptal cellulitis, severe pansinusitis and suspected epidural abscess. Brain MRI and sinus CT confirmed an epidural abscess in the right middle cranial fossa and a second extra-cranial abscess in the right infratemporal fossa along with large right sphenoidal emissary foramen. Drainage from sinus surgery confirmed allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. She was treated with prednisone and voriconazole.

13.
J Am Coll Radiol ; 17(11S): S367-S379, 2020 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33153550

ABSTRACT

Antenatal hydronephrosis is the most frequent urinary tract anomaly detected on prenatal ultrasonography. It occurs approximately twice as often in males as in females. Most antenatal hydronephrosis is transient with little long-term significance, and few children with antenatal hydronephrosis will have significant obstruction, develop symptoms or complications, and require surgery. Some children will be diagnosed with more serious conditions, such as posterior urethral valves. Early detection of obstructive uropathy is necessary to mitigate the potential morbidity from loss of renal function. Imaging is an integral part of screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of children with antenatal hydronephrosis. Optimal timing and appropriate use of imaging can reduce the incidence of late diagnoses and prevent renal scarring and other complications. In general, follow-up neonatal ultrasound is recommended for all cases of antenatal hydronephrosis, while further imaging, including voiding cystourethrography and nuclear scintigraphy, is recommended for moderate or severe cases, or when renal parenchymal or bladder wall abnormalities are suspected. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.


Subject(s)
Hydronephrosis , Radiology , Child , Diagnostic Imaging , Female , Humans , Hydronephrosis/diagnostic imaging , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Pregnancy , Societies, Medical , Ultrasonography , United States
14.
J Am Coll Radiol ; 17(11S): S505-S515, 2020 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33153561

ABSTRACT

Vomiting in infants under the age of 3 months is one of the most common reasons for parents to seek care from their doctor or present to an emergency room. The imaging workup that ensues is dependent on several factors: age at onset, days versus weeks after birth, quality of emesis, bilious or nonbilious vomiting, and the initial findings on plain radiograph, suspected proximal versus distal bowel obstruction. The purpose of these guidelines is to inform the clinician, based on current evidence, what is the next highest yield and most appropriate imaging study to pursue a diagnosis. The goal is rapid and accurate arrival at a plan for treatment, whether surgical or nonsurgical. The following modalities are discussed for each variant of the symptom: plain radiography, fluoroscopic upper gastrointestinal series, fluoroscopic contrast enema, ultrasound of the abdomen, nuclear medicine gastroesophageal reflux scan. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.


Subject(s)
Evidence-Based Medicine , Societies, Medical , Diagnostic Imaging , Humans , Infant , United States , Vomiting/diagnostic imaging
15.
J Am Coll Radiol ; 17(5S): S215-S225, 2020 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32370966

ABSTRACT

Pneumonia is one of the most common acute infections and the single greatest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. In uncomplicated, community-acquired pneumonia in immunocompetent patients, the diagnosis is clinical and imaging has no role. The first role of imaging is to identify complications associated with pneumonia such as pleural effusion, pulmonary abscess, and bronchopleural fistula. Radiographs are recommended for screening for these complications and ultrasound and CT are recommended for confirmation. The second role of imaging is to identify underlying anatomic conditions that may predispose patients to recurrent pneumonia. CT with intravenously administered contrast is recommended for this evaluation. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.


Subject(s)
Pneumonia , Societies, Medical , Child , Diagnostic Imaging , Family , Humans , Pneumonia/diagnostic imaging , Ultrasonography , United States
16.
Pediatrics ; 145(6)2020 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32376727

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pathways guide clinicians through evidence-based care of specific conditions. Pathways have been demonstrated to improve inpatient asthma care but mainly in studies at large, tertiary children's hospitals. It remains unclear if these effects are generalizable across diverse hospital settings. Our objective was to improve inpatient asthma care by implementing pathways in a diverse, national sample of hospitals. METHODS: We used a learning collaborative model. Pathway implementation strategies included local champions, external facilitators and/or mentors, educational seminars, quality improvement methods, and audit and feedback. Outcomes included length of stay (LOS) (primary), early administration of metered-dose inhalers, screening for secondhand tobacco exposure and referral to cessation resources, and 7-day hospital readmissions or emergency revisits (balancing). Hospitals reviewed a sample of up to 20 charts per month of children ages 2 to 17 years who were admitted with a primary diagnosis of asthma (12 months before and 15 months after implementation). Analyses were done by using multilevel regression models with an interrupted time series approach, adjusting for patient characteristics. RESULTS: Eighty-five hospitals enrolled (40 children's and 45 community); 68 (80%) completed the study (n = 12 013 admissions). Pathways were associated with increases in early administration of metered-dose inhalers (odds ratio: 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-1.22) and referral to smoking cessation resources (odds ratio: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.27-2.91) but no statistically significant changes in other outcomes, including LOS (rate ratio: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.96-1.06). Most hospitals (65%) improved in at least 1 outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Pathways did not significantly impact LOS but did improve quality of asthma care for children in a diverse, national group of hospitals.


Subject(s)
Asthma/epidemiology , Asthma/therapy , Hospitalization/trends , Metered Dose Inhalers/trends , Patient Care/trends , Adolescent , Asthma/diagnosis , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Metered Dose Inhalers/standards , Patient Care/methods , Patient Care/standards , United States/epidemiology
19.
Pediatrics ; 144(3)2019 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31395621

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing in febrile young infants with a positive urinalysis and assess the probability of delayed diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in infants treated for urinary tract infection (UTI) without CSF testing. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the Reducing Excessive Variability in Infant Sepsis Evaluation quality improvement project. A total of 20 570 well-appearing febrile infants 7 to 60 days old presenting to 124 hospitals from 2015 to 2017 were included. A mixed-effects logistic regression was conducted to determine factors associated with CSF testing. Delayed meningitis was defined as a new diagnosis of bacterial meningitis within 7 days of discharge. RESULTS: Overall, 3572 infants had a positive urinalysis; 2511 (70.3%) underwent CSF testing. There was wide variation by site, with CSF testing rates ranging from 64% to 100% for infants 7 to 30 days old and 10% to 100% for infants 31 to 60 days old. Factors associated with CSF testing included: age 7 to 30 days (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 4.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.8-5.5), abnormal inflammatory markers (aOR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.8-2.5), and site volume >300 febrile infants per year (aOR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.6). Among 505 infants treated for UTI without CSF testing, there were 0 (95% CI: 0%-0.6%) cases of delayed meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: There was wide variation in CSF testing in febrile infants with a positive urinalysis. Among infants treated for UTI without CSF testing (mostly 31 to 60-day-old infants), there were no cases of delayed meningitis within 7 days of discharge, suggesting that routine CSF testing of infants 31 to 60 days old with a positive urinalysis may not be necessary.


Subject(s)
Bacteriuria/diagnosis , Fever/microbiology , Meningitis, Bacterial/diagnosis , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Bacteriuria/cerebrospinal fluid , Cerebrospinal Fluid/microbiology , Delayed Diagnosis , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Meningitis, Bacterial/cerebrospinal fluid , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/standards , Quality Improvement , Retrospective Studies , United States , Unnecessary Procedures/standards , Urinalysis
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