Resource use and disease severity of children hospitalized for COVID-19 versus multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in Canada.

Background: Direct comparisons of paediatric hospitalizations for acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) can inform health system planning. We describe the absolute and relative hospital burden of acute paediatric COVID-19 and MIS-C in Canada.

Methods: This national prospective study was conducted via the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program from March 2020-May 2021.

Should Cannabis be Used for Anorexia in Patients With Cancer?

Healthcare professionals are frequently asked about the benefits of cannabis for appetite or anorexia-cachexia syndrome. In popular culture, cannabis has a reputation of causing an increased hunger, slang termed "the munchies," so many patients consume this with the hope that it may improve the loss of appetite associated with serious illness such as cancer. There have only been a few randomized, controlled trials studying the controversial question as to if cannabis improves appetite.

Risk factors for severe COVID-19 in hospitalized children in Canada: A national prospective study from March 2020-May 2021.

Background: Children living with chronic comorbid conditions are at increased risk for severe COVID-19, though there is limited evidence regarding the risks associated with specific conditions and which children may benefit from targeted COVID-19 therapies. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with severe disease among hospitalized children with COVID-19 in Canada.

Methods: We conducted a national prospective study on hospitalized children with microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection via the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP) from April 2020-May 2021.

Do We Have Structure, Process and Outcomes to Support Cannabis as Supportive Therapy in Cancer?

Cannabis is becoming more popular and more available in the United States. It has been approved for use by multiple states for various conditions and several states now allow recreational cannabis. We explore the structure of cannabis distribution, the process of acquisition, outcomes, and the safety of cannabis in the United States.

Near-Fatal Self-Harm Among Canadian Adolescents.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical features of Canadian adolescents admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for medically serious self-harm.

Methods: 2700 Canadian paediatricians were surveyed monthly over two years (January 2017 to December 2018) through the to ascertain data from eligible cases.

Results: Ninety-three cases (73 female; age 15.

Characteristics of children admitted to hospital with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in Canada in 2020.

Background: Risk factors for severe outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection are not well established in children. We sought to describe pediatric hospital admissions associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Canada and identify risk factors for more severe disease.

Methods: We conducted a national prospective study using the infrastructure of the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP).

Consensus recommendations on dosing and administration of medical cannabis to treat chronic pain: results of a modified Delphi process.

Background: Globally, medical cannabis legalization has increased in recent years and medical cannabis is commonly used to treat chronic pain. However, there are few randomized control trials studying medical cannabis indicating expert guidance on how to dose and administer medical cannabis safely and effectively is needed.

Methods: Using a multistage modified Delphi process, twenty global experts across nine countries developed consensus-based recommendations on how to dose and administer medical cannabis in patients with chronic pain.

Safety Considerations in Cannabinoid-Based Medicine.

Cannabinoids are a diverse class of chemical compounds that are increasingly recognized as potential therapeutic options for a range of conditions. While many studies and reviews of cannabinoids focus on efficacy, safety is much less well reported. Overall assessment of the safety of cannabinoid-based medicines is confounded by confusion with recreational cannabis use as well as different study designs, indications, dosing, and administration methods.

Consensus-based recommendations for titrating cannabinoids and tapering opioids for chronic pain control.

Aims: Opioid misuse and overuse have contributed to a widespread overdose crisis and many patients and physicians are considering medical cannabis to support opioid tapering and chronic pain control. Using a five-step modified Delphi process, we aimed to develop consensus-based recommendations on: 1) when and how to safely initiate and titrate cannabinoids in the presence of opioids, 2) when and how to safely taper opioids in the presence of cannabinoids and 3) how to monitor patients and evaluate outcomes when treating with opioids and cannabinoids.

Results: In patients with chronic pain taking opioids not reaching treatment goals, there was consensus that cannabinoids may be considered for patients experiencing or displaying opioid-related complications, despite psychological or physical interventions.

Parental Presence in Pediatric Interfacility Critical Care Transport: A Descriptive Study of Children, Parents, and Health Care Professionals' Opinions.

Objective: Parental accompaniment during transport is considered a core quality metrics in pediatric transport and a key measure of family-centered care in this setting. However, children's opinions on this topic have never been sought. The aim of this study was to evaluate the opinion of different actors of a specialized pediatric transport system on parental presence during transport.

Medical cannabis in supportive cancer care: lessons from Canada.

Medical cannabis, or cannabinoid-based products, continues to grow in popularity globally, driving the evolution of regulatory access frameworks; cancer patients and caregivers often rely on guidance from their physicians regarding cannabinoid-based treatments. But the majority of healthcare practitioners still feel unprepared and insufficiently informed to make reasonable, evidence-based recommendations about medical cannabis. More than 30 countries worldwide have now legalized access to medical cannabis; yet various nations still face arduous regulatory challenges to fulfill the needs of patients, healthcare practitioners, and other medical stakeholders.

[Online social support as a mode of psychosocial intervention: A review of scientific literature, avenues for future research, and recommendations for practitioners].

Objective: The goal of this review is to present online social support interventions described in recent scientific literature, in order to (i) guide organizations wishing to develop such an intervention or to improve an existing program, and (ii) to identify future research directions and recommendations for practitioners.

Methods And Results: 59 peer-reviewed articles presenting online social support interventions (2006-2016) were analyzed by using a thematic grid focusing on theoretical perspectives on social support, the online platforms used and their functionalities, the process of intervention development and evaluation, the modalities of participation and the facilitation methods, the documented impacts of interventions, and finally future research directions and recommendations for practitioners. A narrative methodology was used to identify challenges in intervention development and implementation, in order to provide guidance to organizations who want to develop or improve their online social support services.

The Canadian alcopop tragedy should trigger evidence-informed revisions of federal alcohol regulations.

On 1 March 2018, a 14-year-old girl was found lifeless in a stream behind her high school after having consumed FCKDUP-a beverage containing 11.9% alcohol and sold in 568 mL cans-during her lunch hour. Following her death, the Canadian government took actions at ministerial and parliamentary levels by seeking experts' advice to better regulate highly sweetened alcoholic beverages, otherwise referred to as 'alcopops'.

Cannabis in palliative care: current challenges and practical recommendations.

Pain and symptom control challenges are common in palliative care, and the search for other therapeutic strategies is ongoing. Unfortunately, patients and their caregivers are receiving little information or support from healthcare providers regarding the increasingly popular cannabinoid-based medicines (CBM). Clinicians, meanwhile, feel understandably perplexed by the discrepancy between the available evidence and the rapid interest in which patients and their families have demonstrated for CBM.

Pediatric palliative care in Canada in 2012: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Background: Pediatric palliative care focuses on comprehensive symptom management and enhancing quality of life for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Our aim was to describe Canadian programs that provided specialized pediatric palliative care in 2012 and the children who received it and to estimate the proportion of children who might benefit that received specialized care.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used.

Quality indicators for paediatric palliative care.

Objectives: To apply quality indicators for paediatric palliative care and evaluate performance in one service provision area.

Methods: After institutional review board approval, medical records were abstracted for well-defined and measurable quality indicators for children with chronic complex conditions (CCCs) between January 2006 and December 2011 (n=50) at a university medical centre.

Results: Of the 50 children with a CCC (mean age 64 months, 48% female), 39 (78%) died in hospital, 11 (22%) died at home and 13 (26%) were <1 month of age.

Burden of rotavirus disease: A population-based study in Eastern Townships, Quebec.

Background: Since July 2010, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization of Canada has recommended rotavirus vaccination for all healthy infants. However, before implementing this vaccine in routine health programs, Canadian provinces need to establish current epidemiological data on rotavirus-associated acute gastroenteritis (AGE).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of children <5 years of age with AGE from 2002 to 2008 was performed in Eastern Townships, Quebec (population in 2006: 298,780).

Preventing choking and suffocation in children.

Choking, suffocation and strangulation cause serious unintentional injuries in children and are leading causes of unintentional death in infants and toddlers. Nearly all choking, suffocation and strangulation deaths and injuries are preventable. The present statement reviews definitions, epidemiology and effective prevention strategies for these injuries.

Procedural pediatric sedation by nurses: available, competent, and safe.

Sedation and/or analgesia are standard of care for pediatric patients during painful intervention or medical imaging requiring immobility. Physician availability is frequently insufficient to allow for all procedural sedation. A nurse-led sedation program was created at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) to address this problem.

Health care professionals' grief after the death of a child.

Objectives: To evaluate the intensity of grief experienced by health care professionals (HPs) after the death of a child, to explore factors associated with a memorable death (defined as an unforgettable child's death that has touched them in their career) and to identify the needs of HPs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed to assess emotional reactions, coping strategies and perceived needs of paediatric HPs in a general hospital.

Results: One hundred one HPs (46 nurses, 22 paediatric physicians, 11 paediatric residents, 13 respiratory therapists and nine 'others') completed the questionnaire.