Validating the Child Trauma Screen Among a Cross-Sectional Sample of Youth and Caregivers in Pediatric Primary Care.

Pediatric primary care providers have an important role in addressing the health effects of trauma, yet routine screening is rare. This study evaluated whether the 10-item Child Trauma Screen (CTS) could identify youth experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Participants were 107 caregiver-youth pairs aged 7 to 17 years old, 55.8% male, and 76.4% Hispanic who were recruited at an urban pediatric primary care clinic. Youth and caregivers separately completed the CTS and the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-5 (RI-5) prior to their medical visit. Half of youth experienced at least one type of trauma, and one sixth reported elevated PTSD symptoms. The CTS was highly correlated with the RI-5 on PTSD symptom severity, and correctly classified 85% of youth based on likely PTSD diagnosis. The brief CTS can accurately identify youth suffering from PTSD symptoms, and may be particularly feasible to implement in busy primary care practices.

The Relationship Between Body Mass Index in Children and Insurance Type, Parental Eating Concern, Asthma, and Allergies.

INTRODUCTION: Trust for America's Health reported rising levels of obesity contributed to increased disease rates and health care costs (Levi et al., 2013). Factors associated with overweight and obesity rates include lower socioeconomic status, public insurance, and increased chronic disease rates. METHODS: Body mass index percentile, health insurance, parental eating concern, asthma, and allergy information were evaluated from a dataset of 870 de-identified health assessment records. RESULTS: Among overweight/obese children, we found significant differences in children insured by Medicaid (26%) versus commercial insurance (15.9%), children with asthma (22.1%) versus children without asthma (14.8%), and children with known allergies (7.8%) versus children without known allergies (16.7%). The difference between children with parental eating concerns (3.7%) and children without (18.1%) was nearly significant. DISCUSSION: The associations depicted can assist pediatric providers in recognizing risk factors for overweight/obesity among their patients. Combating obesity in childhood can improve health outcomes.

A Clinical Care Algorithmic Toolkit for Promoting Screening and Next-Level Assessment of Pediatric Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care.

With a documented shortage in youth mental health services, pediatric primary care (PPC) providers face increased pressure to enhance their capacity to identify and manage common mental health problems among youth, such as anxiety and depression. Because 90% of U.S. youth regularly see a PPC provider, the primary care setting is well positioned to serve as a key access point for early identification, service provision, and connection to mental health services. In the context of task shifting, we evaluated a quality improvement project designed to assist PPC providers in overcoming barriers to practice-wide mental health screening through implementing paper and computer-assisted clinical care algorithms. PPC providers were fairly successful at changing practice to better address mental health concerns when equipped with screening tools that included family mental health histories, next-level actions, and referral options. Task shifting is a promising strategy to enhance mental health services, particularly when guided by computer-assisted algorithms.

The effects of office-based frenotomy for anterior and posterior ankyloglossia on breastfeeding.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of office-based frenotomy on reversing breastfeeding difficulties among infants with problematic ankyloglossia, and to examine characteristics associated with anterior and posterior ankyloglossia. METHODS: Mother's of infants who underwent a frenotomy for ankyloglossia from December 2006 through March 2011 completed a post-intervention web-based survey about breastfeeding difficulties they experienced before and after the frenotomy. Maternal-infant dyads had been referred from health providers to a primary care practice for assessment of ankyloglossia. Infants were subsequently classified as having no ankyloglossia, anterior (Type I or Type II) or posterior (Type III or Type IV). RESULTS: There were 311 infants evaluated for ankyloglossia and 299 (95%) underwent a frenotomy. Most infants were classified as having Type III (36%) or IV (49%) ankyloglossia compared to only 16% with anterior (Type I and Type II combined). Differences by classification type were found for gender (P=.016), age (P=.017), and maxillary tie (P=.005). Among survey respondents (n=157), infant latching significantly improved (P<.001) from pre- to post-intervention for infants with posterior ankyloglossia. Both the presence and severity of nipple pain decreased from pre- to post-intervention among all classifications (P<.001). Additionally, 92% of respondents breastfed exclusively post-intervention. The mean breastfeeding duration of 14 months did not differ significantly by classification. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding difficulties associated with ankyloglossia in infants, particularly posterior, can be improved with a simple office-based procedure in most cases. The diagnosis and treatment of ankyloglossia should be a basic competency for all primary care providers and pediatric otorhinolaryngologists.