Child health-related quality of life following neurocritical care for traumatic brain injury: an analysis of preference-weighted outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Cost-effectiveness analysis relies on preference-weighted health outcome measures as they form the basis for quality adjusted life years. Studies of preference-weighted outcomes for children following traumatic brain injury are lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to describe the preference-weighted health outcomes of children following a traumatic brain injury at 3- and 6-months following pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) discharge. SETTING/PATIENTS: Children aged 5-17 who required ICU admission and endotracheal intubation or mechanical ventilation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Quality of Well-being (QWB) score was used to describe preference-weighted outcomes. Clinical measures from the intensive care unit stay were used to estimate risk of mortality. Risk of mortality, Glasgow coma scores, patient length of stay in the intensive care unit, and parent-reported items from the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) were used to test construct validity. METHODS: Subject data were obtained from nine pediatric intensive care units with consent procedures approved by representative institutional review boards. Medical records containing clinical information from the ICU stay were abstracted by the study coordinating center. Caregivers of children were contacted by telephone for follow-up interviews at 3- and 6-months following ICU discharge. All interviews were conducted by telephone with the primary caregiver of the injured child. Preference score statistics are presented overall and in relation to characteristics of the patient and their ICU admission. RESULTS: A response rate of 59% was achieved for the 3-month interviews (N = 56) and 67% for the 6-month interviews (N = 65) for caregivers of children aged 5 years and above that consented to participate. Overall, QWB scores averaged 0.508 (95% CI: 0.454-0.562) at the 3-month interview and 0.582 (95% CI: 0.526-0.639) at the 6-month interview. For both interview periods, scores ranged from 0.093 to 1.0 on a 0-1 value scale, where 0 represents death and 1 represents perfect health. Specific acute and chronic health problems from the QWB scale were present more often in patients with higher injury severity. Mortality risk, ICU length of stay, Glasgow Coma Scales, and parental reported summary scores from the CHQ all correlated correctly with the QWB scores. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the use of the QWB score with parental report to measure preference-weighted health outcomes of children following a traumatic brain injury. Information from the study can be used in economic evaluations of interventions to prevent or treat traumatic brain injuries in children.

Variation in pediatric intensive care therapies and outcomes by race, gender, and insurance status.

CONTEXT: The differential allocation of medical resources to adult patients according to characteristics such as race, gender, and insurance status raises the serious concern that such issues apply to critically ill children as well. OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether medical resources and outcomes for children admitted to pediatric intensive care units differed according to race, gender, or insurance status. DESIGN: An observational analysis was conducted with use of prospectively collected data from a multicenter cohort. Data were collected on 5,749 consecutive admissions for children from three pediatric intensive care units located in large urban children's hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Children aged

Hospitalizations for critically ill children with traumatic brain injuries: a longitudinal analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the incidence, utilization of procedures, and outcomes for critically ill children hospitalized with traumatic brain injury over the period 1988-1999 to describe the benefits of improved treatment. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of hospital discharges was conducted using data from the Health Care Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample that approximates a 20% sample of U.S. acute care hospitals. SETTING: Hospital inpatient stays from all types of U.S. community hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample included all children aged 0-21 with a primary or secondary ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for traumatic brain injury and a procedure code for either endotracheal intubation or mechanical ventilation. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Deaths occurring during hospitalization were used to calculate mortality rates. Use of intracranial pressure monitoring and surgical openings of the skull were investigated as markers for the aggressiveness of treatment. Patients were further classified by insurance status, household income, and hospital characteristics. Over the 12-yr study period, mortality rates decreased 8 percentage points whereas utilization of intracranial pressure monitoring increased by 11 percentage points. The trend toward more aggressive management of traumatic brain injury corresponded with improved hospital outcomes over time. Lack of insurance was associated with vastly worse outcomes. An estimated 6,437 children survived their traumatic brain injury hospitalization because of improved treatment, and 1,418 children died because of increased mortality risk associated with being uninsured. Improved treatment was valued at approximately dollar 17 billion, whereas acute care hospitalization costs increased by dollar 1.5 billion (in constant 2000 dollars). Increased mortality in uninsured children was associated with a dollar 3.76 billion loss in economic benefits. CONCLUSIONS: More aggressive management of pediatric traumatic brain injury appears to have contributed to reduced mortality rates over time and saved thousands of lives. Additional lives could be saved if mortality rates could be equalized between insured and uninsured children.

Leadership trends in academic pediatric departments.

OBJECTIVE: To examine recent turnover trends among chairs of academic pediatric departments. METHODS: Membership data for the 150 institutions represented by the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico were reviewed for the time period of 1993-2003. RESULTS: From 1993 to 2003, 278 individuals (250 men and 28 women) held the position of chair. The mean time of service was 5.58 +/- 3.2 years (median: 5 years). Twenty-nine individuals served continuously as chairs during the 11-year period. Seventy-two individuals served as interim chairs. Twenty-eight women were appointed either chairs or interim chairs during the 11 years. The number of female chairs decreased from 13 in 1993 to 11 in 2003. Female chairs were in office 3.42 +/- 2.72 years. A total of 123 departments had a change in leadership, with a mean annual turnover rate of 17% (range: 4.6-24%). Three departments had 5 different leaders as either interim chair or chair and 6 departments had 4 different leaders during this time period. Neonatology was the most common subspecialty represented by recent pediatric chairs, although nephrology was the subspecialty with the greatest proportional representation. CONCLUSIONS: Departments of pediatrics have high turnover of leadership. Women, in particular, serve for relatively short periods and appear to be under-represented within the leadership of pediatrics. Efforts should be made to ascertain personal qualities that allow sustained leadership and to attract more women into leadership positions.

The increasing threat of personal watercraft injuries.

A trend of increasing number and severity of injuries associated with use of personal watercraft (PWC) has been noted as the use and popularity of PWC also rises. The rate of injuries secondary to PWC use is greater than that from other water sports. Multiple etiologies of injury have been reported, including closed head trauma, spinal injuries, facial fractures, chest trauma, abdominal injuries, and drowning. These injuries may occur from collision with other objects, falls from the PWC, and encounters with the hydrostatic jet stream. The most significant contributing factors to injury seem to be carelessness and inattention. However, some studies show that substance abuse may also contribute. Recommendations to reduce morbidity and mortality include using U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices (PFD), limiting use of PWC to trained adults, and improving recognition of significant PWC injury by medical personnel.