Pediatric mental health emergency department visits from 2017 to 2022: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected children's mental health (MH) and changed patterns of MH emergency department (ED) utilization. Our objective was to assess how pediatric MH ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from expected prepandemic trends. METHODS: We retrospectively studied MH ED visits by children 5 to <18 years old at nine U.S. hospitals participating in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Registry from 2017 to 2022. We described visit length by time period: prepandemic (January 2017-February 2020), early pandemic (March 2020-December 2020), midpandemic (2021), and late pandemic (2022). We estimated expected visit rates from prepandemic data using multivariable Poisson regression models. We calculated rate ratios (RRs) of observed to expected visits per 30 days during each pandemic time period, overall and by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: We identified 175,979 pediatric MH ED visits. Visit length exceeded 12 h for 7.3% prepandemic, 8.4% early pandemic, 15.0% midpandemic, and 19.2% late pandemic visits. During the early pandemic, observed visits per 30 days decreased relative to expected rates (RR 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.84), were similar to expected rates during the midpandemic (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.96-1.07), and then decreased below expected rates during the late pandemic (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.86-0.98). During the late pandemic, visit rates were higher than expected for females (RR 1.10, 95% CI 1.02-1.20) and for bipolar disorders (RR 1.83, 95% CI 1.38-2.75), schizophrenia spectrum disorders (RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.10-2.59), and substance-related and addictive disorders (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18-2.05). CONCLUSIONS: During the late pandemic, pediatric MH ED visits decreased below expected rates; however, visits by females and for specific conditions remained elevated, indicating a need for increased attention to these groups. Prolonged ED visit lengths may reflect inadequate availability of MH services.

Rehydration Rates and Outcomes in Overweight Children With Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Fluid Therapies Under Investigation in Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) (FLUID) Trial found that rapid fluid infusion does not increase the risk of cerebral injury. Concern persists, however, whether fluid rates should be adjusted for overweight or obese patients. We used the FLUID Trial database to evaluate associations between fluid infusion rate and outcomes in these patients. METHODS: We compared children and youth who were overweight, obese, or normal weight, in regard to protocol adherence, mental status changes, time to DKA resolution, and electrolyte abnormalities. We investigated associations between outcomes and the amount of fluid received in these groups. RESULTS: Obese children and youth were more likely to receive fluids at rates slower than dictated by protocol. Overweight and obese children and youth in the fast fluid arms, who received fluids per the study protocol based on their measured weight, had similar rates of mental status changes or clinically apparent cerebral injury as those with normal weights. Risk of hypophosphatemia was increased in those receiving larger initial bolus volumes and reduced in those receiving higher rehydration rates. No other metabolic outcomes were associated with rehydration. CONCLUSIONS: Protocol adherence data in the FLUID Trial suggest that physicians are uncomfortable using weight-based fluid calculations for overweight or obese children. However, higher rates of fluid infusion were not associated with increased risk of mental status changes or cerebral injury, suggesting that physicians should not limit fluid resuscitation in obese children and youth with DKA.

Pediatric Firearm Injury Emergency Department Visits From 2017 to 2022: A Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pediatric firearm injuries increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but recent trends in firearm injury emergency department (ED) visits are not well described. We aimed to assess how pediatric firearm injury ED visits during the pandemic differed from expected prepandemic trends. METHODS: We retrospectively studied firearm injury ED visits by children <18 years old at 9 US hospitals participating in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Registry before (January 2017 to February 2020) and during (March 2020 to November 2022) the pandemic. Multivariable Poisson regression models estimated expected visit rates from prepandemic data. We calculated rate ratios (RRs) of observed to expected visits per 30 days, overall, and by sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: We identified 1904 firearm injury ED visits (52.3% 15-17 years old, 80.0% male, 63.5% non-Hispanic Black), with 694 prepandemic visits and 1210 visits during the pandemic. Death in the ED/hospital increased from 3.1% prepandemic to 6.1% during the pandemic (P = .007). Firearm injury visits per 30 days increased from 18.0 prepandemic to 36.1 during the pandemic (RR 2.09, 95% CI 1.63-2.91). Increases beyond expected rates were seen for 10- to 14-year-olds (RR 2.61, 95% CI 1.69-5.71), females (RR 2.46, 95% CI 1.55-6.00), males (RR 2.00, 95% CI 1.53-2.86), Hispanic children (RR 2.30, 95% CI 1.30-9.91), and Black non-Hispanic children (RR 1.88, 95% CI 1.34-3.10). CONCLUSIONS: Firearm injury ED visits for children increased beyond expected prepandemic trends, with greater increases among certain population subgroups. These findings may inform firearm injury prevention efforts.

Clinical and Laboratory Predictors of Dehydration Severity in Children With Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to characterize the degree of dehydration in children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and identify physical examination and biochemical factors associated with dehydration severity. Secondary objectives included describing relationships between dehydration severity and other clinical outcomes. METHODS: In this cohort study, we analyzed data from 753 children with 811 episodes of DKA in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Fluid Therapies Under Investigation Study, a randomized clinical trial of fluid resuscitation protocols for children with DKA. We used multivariable regression analyses to identify physical examination and biochemical factors associated with dehydration severity, and we described associations between dehydration severity and DKA outcomes. RESULTS: Mean dehydration was 5.7% (SD 3.6%). Mild (0 to <5%), moderate (5 to <10%), and severe (≥10%) dehydration were observed in 47% (N=379), 42% (N=343), and 11% (N=89) of episodes, respectively. In multivariable analyses, more severe dehydration was associated with new onset of diabetes, higher blood urea nitrogen, lower pH, higher anion gap, and diastolic hypertension. However, there was substantial overlap in these variables between dehydration groups. The mean length of hospital stay was longer for patients with moderate and severe dehydration, both in new onset and established diabetes. CONCLUSION: Most children with DKA have mild-to-moderate dehydration. Although biochemical measures were more closely associated with the severity of dehydration than clinical assessments, neither were sufficiently predictive to inform rehydration practice.

A Randomized Clinical Trial Testing Hydroxychloroquine for Reduction of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Shedding and Hospitalization in Early Outpatient COVID-19 Infection.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, no effective treatment existed to prevent clinical worsening of COVID-19 among recently diagnosed outpatients. At the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, we conducted a phase 2 prospective parallel group randomized placebo-controlled trial (NCT04342169) to determine whether hydroxychloroquine given early in disease reduces the duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding. We enrolled nonhospitalized adults (≥18 years of age) with a recent positive diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 (within 72 h of enrollment) and adult household contacts. Participants received either 400 mg hydroxychloroquine by mouth twice daily on day 1 followed by 200 mg by mouth twice daily on days 2 to 5 or oral placebo with the same schedule. We performed SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) on oropharyngeal swabs on days 1 to 14 and 28 and monitored clinical symptomatology, rates of hospitalization, and viral acquisition by adult household contacts. We identified no overall differences in the duration of oropharyngeal carriage of SARS-CoV-2 (hazard ratio of viral shedding time comparing hydroxychloroquine to placebo, 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91, 1.62). Overall, 28-day hospitalization incidence was similar between treatments (4.6% hydroxychloroquine versus 2.7% placebo). No differences were seen in symptom duration, severity, or viral acquisition in household contacts between treatment groups. The study did not reach the prespecified enrollment target, which was likely influenced by a steep decline in COVID-19 incidence corresponding to the initial vaccine rollout in the spring of 2021. Oropharyngeal swabs were self-collected, which may introduce variability in these results. Placebo treatments were not identical to hydroxychloroquine treatments (capsules versus tablets) which may have led to inadvertent participant unblinding. In this group of community adults early in the COVID-19 pandemic, hydroxychloroquine did not significantly alter the natural history of early COVID-19 disease. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT04342169). IMPORTANCE Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, no effective treatment existed to prevent clinical worsening of COVID-19 among recently diagnosed outpatients. Hydroxychloroquine received attention as a possible early treatment; however, quality prospective studies were lacking. We conducted a clinical trial to test the ability of hydroxychloroquine to prevent clinical worsening of COVID-19.

Cognitive function following diabetic ketoacidosis in young children with type 1 diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: Young children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may be at particularly high risk of cognitive decline following diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). However, studies of cognitive functioning in T1D typically examine school-age children. The goal of this study was to examine whether a single experience of DKA is associated with lower cognitive functioning in young children. We found that recently diagnosed 3- to 5-year-olds who experienced one DKA episode, regardless of its severity, exhibited lower IQ scores than those with no DKA exposure. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 46 3- to 5-year-old children, who presented with DKA at the onset of T1D, in a randomized multi-site clinical trial evaluating intravenous fluid protocols for DKA treatment. DKA was moderate/severe in 22 children and mild in 24 children. Neurocognitive function was assessed once 2-6 months after the DKA episode. A comparison group of 27 children with T1D, but no DKA exposure, was also assessed. Patient groups were matched for age and T1D duration at the time of neurocognitive testing. RESULTS: Children who experienced DKA, regardless of its severity, exhibited significantly lower IQ scores than children who did not experience DKA, F(2, 70) = 6.26, p = .003, partial η2  = .15. This effect persisted after accounting for socioeconomic status and ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: A single DKA episode is associated with lower IQ scores soon after exposure to DKA in young children.

Pyuria in Children with Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

Acute kidney injury occurs frequently during pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). We reviewed urinalyses from 561 children with DKA; pyuria was detected in 19% overall and in 40% of children with more comprehensive urine testing (≥3 urinalyses) during DKA.

Updated Diagnosis Grouping System for Pediatric Emergency Department Visits.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to update the Diagnosis Grouping System (DGS) for International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision ( ICD-10 ) codes for ongoing use. The DGS was developed in 2010 using ICD-9 codes with 21 major groups and 27 subgroups to facilitate research on pediatric patients presenting to emergency departments and required updated classification for more recent ICD codes. METHODS: All emergency department discharges available in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) database for 2016 were included to identify ICD-10 codes. These codes were then mapped onto the DGS codes originally derived from ICD-9 . We used ICD-10 codes from the PECARN database from 2017 to 2019 to confirm validity. RESULTS: The DGS was updated with ICD-10 codes based on 2016 PECARN data, and this updated DGS was successfully applied to 6,853,479 (97.3%) of all codes from 2017 to 2019. DISCUSSION: Using ICD-10 codes from the PECARN Registry, the DGS was updated to reflect ICD-10 codes to facilitate ongoing research.

Clinical Characteristics of Children with Cerebral Injury preceding Treatment of Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

Previous studies have identified more severe acidosis and higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN) as risk factors for cerebral injury during treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children; however, cerebral injury also can occur before DKA treatment. We found that lower pH and higher BUN levels also were associated with cerebral injury at presentation.

Derivation of the Pediatric Acute Gastroenteritis Risk Score to Predict Moderate-to-Severe Acute Gastroenteritis.

OBJECTIVES: Although most acute gastroenteritis (AGE) episodes in children rapidly self-resolve, some children go on to experience more significant and prolonged illness. We sought to develop a prognostic score to identify children at risk of experiencing moderate-to-severe disease after an index emergency department (ED) visit. METHODS: Data were collected from a cohort of children 3 to 48 months of age diagnosed with AGE in 16 North American pediatric EDs. Moderate-to-severe AGE was defined as a Modified Vesikari Scale (MVS) score ≥9 during the 14-day post-ED visit. A clinical prognostic model was derived using multivariable logistic regression and converted into a simple risk score. The model's accuracy was assessed for moderate-to-severe AGE and several secondary outcomes. RESULTS: After their index ED visit, 19% (336/1770) of participants developed moderate-to-severe AGE. Patient age, number of vomiting episodes, dehydration status, prior ED visits, and intravenous rehydration were associated with MVS ≥9 in multivariable regression. Calibration of the prognostic model was strong with a P value of 0.77 by the Hosmer-Lemenshow goodness-of-fit test, and discrimination was moderate with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65-0.72). Similarly, the model was shown to have good calibration when fit to the secondary outcomes of subsequent ED revisit, intravenous rehydration, or hospitalization within 72 hours after the index visit. CONCLUSIONS: After external validation, this new risk score may provide clinicians with accurate prognostic insight into the likely disease course of children with AGE, informing disposition decisions, anticipatory guidance, and follow-up care.