Publications by authors named "Heather Dykstra"
Background: Three sources used for poisoning surveillance-child fatality reviews (CFRs), poison centre (PC) calls and death certificates-employ disparate data methodologies. Our study objectives were to (1) characterise the number of fatalities captured by CFRs and PC data compared with death certificates by age and (2) compare demographic and substance characteristics of fatalities captured by the three sources.
Methods: We acquired CFR data from the National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System (NFR-CRS), PC calls from the National Poison Data System (NPDS) and death certificate data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) on poisoning fatalities among children 0-17 years old between 2005 and 2020.
Article Synopsis
- - This study analyzes the characteristics of 183 children aged 1 to 17 who died from COVID-19 in the U.S. between 2020 and 2022, using data from the National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System.
- - The majority of the deceased children were male (56%) and included a significant portion of older adolescents (33%) and younger children (26%). Many had pre-existing medical conditions, with 68% having an underlying health issue at the time of death.
- - Findings emphasize a critical need for improved pandemic planning focused on prevention and timely access to healthcare, as a significant number of these children died shortly after exposure to the virus.
The National Fatality Review Case Reporting System (NFR-CRS) is a web-based data collection tool for child death review and fetal and infant mortality review teams. The NFR-CRS captures information from the multidisciplinary review, including the social and community risk factors that may have impacted the death. The NFR-CRS is a nimble data system that has evolved throughout the past 20 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To explore the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System (NFR-CRS) as a new data source to (1) characterize pediatric vehicular heatstroke (PVH) deaths among children <15 years of age reviewed by Child Death Review teams, and (2) identify factors independently associated with common PVH scenarios and incident locations.
Methods: Data for 2005-2019 were used to characterize 296 PVH deaths. Frequencies and percentages were calculated to describe child, supervisor, and incident characteristics.
Article Synopsis
- - This study examines fire-related fatalities among children aged 1-14 from 2004-2016, focusing on deaths caused by "fireplay" and comparing those incidents with other fire-related fatalities.
- - A total of 1,479 child fire deaths were recorded, showing that most victims were young, predominantly male, and that a significant number occurred in single-family homes; however, data on smoke alarms were often missing.
- - Key findings reveal that children who died from fireplay-related incidents were more likely to be younger, male, lacked supervision, and were associated with ongoing Child Protective Services cases, highlighting the need for enhanced prevention strategies.
Objective: To describe epidemiologic data from the Sudden Death in the Young (SDY) Case Registry. Understanding the scope of SDY may optimize prevention efforts.
Study Design: We analyzed sudden, unexpected deaths of infants (<365 days) and children (1-17 years) from a population-based registry of 8 states/jurisdictions in 2015 and 9 in 2016.
U-Shaped Pillows and Sleep-Related Infant Deaths, United States, 2004-2015.
Matern Child Health J
February 2020
Objectives: To describe infant deaths where a u-shaped pillow was under or around an infant and to describe cases classified as Explained Suffocation.
Methods: We examined demographics and circumstances of 141 infant deaths during 2004-2015 in the US National Fatality Review Case Reporting System with u-shaped pillows in the sleep environment.
Results: Most infants were < 6 months old (92%), male (58%), non-Hispanic White (53%), and of the nine explained suffocation deaths, four occurred when the u-shaped pillow obstructed the infant's airway; five occurred when the infant rolled off the pillow and their airway was obstructed by another object.
Knowledge gaps persist about the incidence of and risk factors for sudden death in the young (SDY). The SDY Case Registry is a collaborative effort between the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Michigan Public Health Institute. Its goals are to: (1) describe the incidence of SDY in the United States by using population-based surveillance; (2) compile data from SDY cases to create a resource of information and DNA samples for research; (3) encourage standardized approaches to investigation, autopsy, and categorization of SDY cases; (4) develop partnerships between local, state, and federal stakeholders toward a common goal of understanding and preventing SDY; and (5) support families who have lost loved ones to SDY by providing resources on bereavement and medical evaluation of surviving family members.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigated causes of death in children and young adults with epilepsy by using data from the U.S. National Child Death Review Case Reporting System (NCDR-CRS), a passive surveillance system composed of comprehensive information related to deaths reviewed by local child death review teams.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cardiovascular conditions rank sixth in causes of death in 1- to 19-year-olds. Our study is the first analysis of the cardiovascular death data set from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths, which provides the only systematic collection of cardiovascular deaths in children.
Methods: We developed an analytical data set from the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths database for cardiovascular deaths in children 0 to 21 years old, reviewing 1,098 cases from 2005 to 2009 in 16 states who agreed to participate.
Background: The only systematic collection of cardiovascular (CV) deaths in children resides in the database derived from the Case Reporting System of the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths (NCRPCD). We describe the process used to develop an analytical data set to inform our understanding of CV deaths in children from this database.
Methods: Twenty-five states reporting natural CV deaths during 2005 to 2009 were contacted.
Objectives: We sought to describe the characteristics and sleep circumstances of infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly and to examine similarities and differences in risk factors among infants whose deaths are classified as resulting from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), suffocation, or undetermined causes.
Methods: We used 2005 to 2008 data from 9 US states to assess 3136 sleep-related sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs).
Results: Only 25% of infants were sleeping in a crib or on their back when found; 70% were on a surface not intended for infant sleep (e.