Compliance with group B streptococcal disease prevention guidelines.

PURPOSE: This study assessed the degree of clinician compliance with nationally recommended guidelines for the prevention of early onset Group B Streptococcal (GBS) disease in infants. A secondary objective was to identify areas for specific educational interventions to enhance clinician compliance. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was undertaken at a tertiary medical center. Mothers (N = 515) with any known risk factor for GBS sepsis who delivered live infants (N = 537) in a 9-month study period participated. No interventions were done. Compliance of obstetric and pediatric clinicians with nationally recommended management algorithms for pregnant women and infants at risk for GBS disease was evaluated. RESULTS: In the combined risk factor and culture-based algorithm for maternal management, clinician compliance with administration of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (when indicated) ranged from 75% to 84%. Unindicated antibiotics were administered in 22% of the women. Among the women for whom antenatal cultures were indicated, 65% received them. Only 9% of the cultures were performed from the anogenital site, as recommended. In the risk factor-based maternal management algorithm, indicated antibiotics were administered to 76% of the women and unindicated antibiotics to 15% of the women. Use of penicillin, the recommended antibiotic, ranged from 0% to 9%. Among the infants, between 14% to 75% received recommended evaluations and 61% to 94% were observed for at least 48 hrs postdischarge. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Clinician compliance with current GBS disease prevention guidelines for mothers and infants is less than ideal. Targeted education efforts are warranted.

The experiences and challenges of informal caregivers: common themes and differences among whites, blacks, and hispanics.

PURPOSE: This study examined commonalities and differences in the experiences and challenges of White, Black, and Hispanic informal caregivers in New York, NY. DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomly selected representative cross-section of 2,241 households was contacted through telephone interviews. Complete data were available for 380 eligible participants, who were classified as White (n = 164), Black (n = 129) and Hispanic (n = 87). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine differences in caregiving intensity, reported difficulty with providing care, and having unmet needs with care provision. RESULTS: Over 70% of caregivers had no help from formal caregivers, even though over 80% had been providing care for at least 1 year, and 40% had been providing this care for 20 or more hr per week. Compared with White caregivers, Black caregivers were more likely to provide higher intensity care, to report having unmet needs with care provision, and to experience increased religiosity since becoming caregivers, but were less likely to report difficulty with providing care. Hispanic caregivers were more likely than White caregivers to have help from formal caregivers and to experience increased religiosity since becoming caregivers. IMPLICATIONS: Although many similarities exist in the experiences and challenges of informal caregivers, gaining insight from different populations of family caregivers would help program planners, policy makers, and formal caregivers to develop and implement culturally sensitive programs and policies that are supportive of the needs of these caregivers in their ever-expanding roles. Future efforts also should focus on exploring the potentially significant role that community resources, in particular, religious institutions, could play in providing outreach and support to racial/ethnic minority caregivers.

Social support and psychological functioning among high-risk mothers: the impact of the Baby Love Maternal Outreach Worker Program.

This study compared two groups of high-risk Medicaid-eligible mothers, 221 who participated in a maternal home visitation program and 198 who did not, to determine whether program participation was associated with improvements in the mothers' psychological functioning 1 year after delivery, and whether these improvements were associated with the type and intensity of support provided by home visitors. The results suggest that, compared to nonparticipants, participants provided with more intensive home visitor support had significantly higher self-esteem (p = 0.039) and were less depressed (p = 0.015). Participants with less intensive home visitor support, however, did not differ significantly from nonparticipants in their self-esteem or depression levels. No significant differences were observed in the perceived stress levels of participants as compared with nonparticipants, regardless of the intensity of home visitor support. Mothers who had support from the baby's father, however, had significantly lower perceived stress levels than mothers with no support from the baby's father (p = 0.046). Moreover, the type of support provided by home visitors (emotional, instrumental, informational) did not appear to be related to the mothers' psychological functioning. This study suggests that the intensity of support is an important component of maternal home visitation programs that aim to improve women's psychological functioning.

Factors predicting completion of a home visitation program by high-risk pregnant women: the North Carolina Maternal Outreach Worker Program.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to identify characteristics of high-risk pregnant women that predicted long-term participation in a home visitation program. METHODS: Data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, perceived needs, psychological functioning, substance use, and informal social support were collected prospectively from 152 short-term and 221 long-term program participants. RESULTS: In comparison with short-term participants, long-term participants were more likely to have been African American, married, nonsmokers, and enrolled in the program during their second trimester of pregnancy, and they were more likely to have had emotional and instrumental support needs. CONCLUSIONS: Women with greater social support needs and healthier behaviors were more receptive to long-term home visitation than other women.

Rehospitalization with respiratory syncytial virus after neonatal intensive care unit discharge: A 3-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine 1) the incidence of rehospitalization with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection within a 3-year follow-up among infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and 2) to examine associations between age at readmission and medical and sociodemographic characteristics among infants rehospitalized with RSV. METHODS: A 3-year retrospective review of NICU discharges at a tertiary care center identified 2506 infants. Using medical record numbers linked with International Classification of Diseases, 9th ed, diagnostic codes for RSV infection, bronchiolitis, or respiratory distress, 67 NICU graduates were identified as having been readmitted from November to April (RSV season). Bivariate analyses and logistic regression modeling were applied to determine the association between a series of predictor variables and age at readmission with RSV by 90 days, 125 days, and 180 days after discharge from the NICU. RESULTS: The 3-year incidence of readmission with RSV infection after NICU discharge was 2.7%. During the 3-year follow-up, 6.4% of very low birth weight infants, 2.8% of low birth weight infants, and 1.7% of normal weight infants were readmitted with RSV. Crude results revealed that the presence of bacteremia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as ventilation use, were associated with younger age at readmission with RSV. Simultaneous consideration of the effects of all of these medical predictors and birth weight on age at readmission revealed that normal birth weight was the only significant factor associated with younger age at readmission with RSV. CONCLUSIONS: This study found significantly lower rates of RSV readmission among NICU graduates than those reported previously in the literature. Based on these data, prophylactic treatment of all preterm infants may not be warranted.

Testing cord blood human chorionic gonadotropin as a surrogate marker for early identification of human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection in children.

We measured human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in cord sera of 22 infants born to women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). hCG was also determined in cord sera from 173 infants born at a suburban hospital to HIV-1-seronegative women. The findings indicate that 16 (9%) of 173 HIV-1-seronegative samples had hCG levels greater than 90 IU/L (values were distributed as a Poisson curve). In contrast, 8 (36%) of the 22 infants born to HIV-1-infected women had hCG levels in excess of 90 IU/L, and 7 (88%) of these were shown to be HIV-infected. The remaining 14 infants born to HIV-1-infected women had low hCG levels, and 3 (21%) of the 14 had HIV infection. Mean follow-up time for HIV-uninfected infants was 17.5 months (range 9 months to 3 years). A statistically significant association between maternal-fetal HIV-1 transmission and hCG levels > or = 90 IU/L in cord sera was observed (p = 0.02). The difference between CD4 counts among mothers who transmitted HIV and those who did not was also statistically significant (p = 0.025). On the basis of this study's findings, we propose that cord blood hCG may serve as a surrogate marker for HIV-1 infection. Testing hCG levels in cord sera is an inexpensive and readily available screening test for early identification of infants at increased risk for getting HIV-1 from their mothers.