Using exterior housing conditions to predict elevated pediatric blood lead levels.

Housing-based lead paint dust is the most common source of lead exposure for US-born children. Although year of housing construction is a critical indicator of the lead hazard to US children, not all housing of the same age poses the same risk to children. Additional information about housing condition is required to differentiate the housing-based lead risk at the parcel level. This study aimed to identify and assess a method for gathering and using observations of exterior housing conditions to identify active housing-based lead hazards at the parcel level. We used a dataset of pediatric blood lead observations (sample years 2000-2013, ages 6-72 months, n = 6,589) to assess associations between observations of exterior housing conditions and housing-based lead risk. We used graphical and Lasso regression methods to estimate the likelihood of an elevated blood lead observation (≥3.5 µg/dL). Our methods estimate a monotonic increase in the likelihood of an elevated blood lead observation as housing conditions deteriorate with the largest changes associated with homes in the greatest disrepair. Additionally we estimate that age of home construction works in consort with housing conditions to amplify risks among those houses built before 1952. Our analysis indicates that a survey of external housing conditions can be used in combination with age of housing in the identification process, at the parcel level, of homes that pose a housing-based lead hazard to children.

Historic racism in Kansas City affects Today's pediatric asthma burden.

Asthma morbidity is unequally distributed across populations throughout the United States, and reasons remain unclear. To assess how historical structural racism correlates with current day asthma disparities, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of 10,736 pediatric patients, ages 3-19 years, with two or more asthma encounters between October 2017-October 2019. Patient addresses were matched with historic Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps - which provide a measure of historic structural racism. Residential proximity to pollution sources served as an additional exposure measure. Healthcare utilization and asthma severity were studied against age, race, SES, geographic proximity to pollution, and HOLC grades. Patients living in historically divested neighborhoods and BIPOC patients were likely to require more acute care for asthma, even when adjusting for present day SES and residential proximity to pollution sources. This supports the assertion that historic structural racism influences present-day health.

Using Margaret Newman's Health as Expanding Consciousness to Explore Pediatric Nurses' Pattern Recognition Process.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study explored pattern recognition practices of experienced pediatric nurses caring for children with chronic, complex healthcare needs and their families. Nurses worked in the inpatient settings of two different freestanding pediatric hospitals. METHODS: Margaret Newman's theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness (1999) was used to explore the pediatric nurses' experiences. During interviews, participants (n = 8) related their stories in caring for these children and their families. Individual interview data were blended to examine themes. RESULTS: Participants described people and events in practice that allowed them to use pattern recognition in the care of children with chronic, complex healthcare needs. Pattern recognition developed in acknowledgement of their past experiences in nursing, as well as with each individual patient and family. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Participants had the opportunity to reflect on relationships between their day-to-day practice and their experiences building knowledge and understanding in practice. They considered their abilities to move from skills and tasks to appreciating what each patient and family has taught them about their practice of pattern recognition.

Long-term safety and effectiveness of sildenafil citrate in men with erectile dysfunction.

Because sildenafil citrate is a treatment, not a cure, for erectile dysfunction (ED), many men may choose to use it for an extended period. Men with ED who had previously completed 1 of 4 double-blind trials with short-term open-label extension (combined duration, 0.9-1.2 years) were eligible for this 4-year, open-label, extension study, which assessed the safety and effectiveness of flexible doses (25, 50, and 100 mg sildenafil) used as needed. Adverse events that were serious or led to dosing changes or discontinuation (temporary or permanent) were recorded. Many of the 979 participants (mean age, 58 [range, 27-82] years; mean ED duration, 4.5 years) had concomitant hypertension (28%), diabetes (22%), or hyperlipidemia (14%). Overall, 37 (3.8%) had treatment-related adverse events (none serious) requiring dosage change or discontinuation and 62 (6.3%) discontinued because of insufficient response. At each yearly assessment, more than 94% of participants responded affirmatively to the questions: "Are you satisfied with the effect of treatment on your erections?" and "If yes, has treatment improved your ability to engage in sexual activity?" These results argue against the loss of tolerability or the development of tachyphylaxis over a prolonged period of as needed, flexible-dose sildenafil treatment of men with ED.