Applications of motivational interviewing in adolescent solid organ transplant.

Background: Adolescence is a developmental period that is known for the highest risk of difficulties with adoption and maintenance of health behaviors for successful transplant. Motivational interviewing (MI) has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy in the management of modifiable factors impacting adherence in both adult transplant and analogous pediatric chronic illness populations.

Aims: This paper describes MI and its applicability to adolescent transplant, providing examples of its potential use at each stage of the transplant journey.

Predicting psychosocial risk in pediatric kidney transplantation: An exploratory cluster analysis of a revised Pediatric Transplant Rating Instrument.

Background: The Pediatric Transplant Rating Instrument (P-TRI) is a 17-item scale developed to assess psychosocial risk factors for poor outcomes after solid organ transplantation. Research has identified the limitations of the original instrument and proposed revisions to improve clinical utility. This project examined patterns of risk in children being evaluated for kidney transplant using a revised P-TRI.

International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA) position statement supporting prioritizing pediatric recipients for deceased donor organ allocation.

A position statement of the International Pediatric Transplant Association endorsing prioritizing pediatric recipients for deceased donor organ allocation, examining the key ethical arguments that serve as the foundation for that position, and making specific policy recommendations to support prioritizing pediatric recipients for deceased donor organ allocation globally.

A systematic review of social determinants of health in pediatric organ transplant outcomes.

Background: Equitable access to pediatric organ transplantation is critical, although risk factors negatively impacting pre- and post-transplant outcomes remain. No synthesis of the literature on SDoH within the pediatric organ transplant population has been conducted; thus, the current systematic review summarizes findings to date assessing SDoH in the evaluation, listing, and post-transplant periods.

Methods: Literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases.

Characterizing Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) Compliance in New Jersey: 2008-2017.

Context: The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) became a law in 1986, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) was mandated to promulgate rules to regulate the inspection, management, and abatement of asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) in schools. This study describes 10 years (2008-2017) of AHERA compliance site inspection data conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH).

Objectives: To establish the level to which inspected NJ schools comply with AHERA regulations, to characterize compliance deficiencies including those that may lead to increased asbestos exposure risk to students and school employees, and to determine whether age, type, and geographic location of school impacted the likelihood of noncompliance.

Black boxes and information pathways: An actor-network theory approach to breast cancer survivorship care.

Many women diagnosed with breast cancer today can expect to live long after completing their treatment. This growing population of survivors encounters distinct post-treatment health and information needs. Existing survivorship care models take information as a given, black boxing it.

5-Year Activity and Participation Outcomes of the First Successful Pediatric Bilateral Hand Transplantation: A Case Report.

Aims: Describe the 5-year outcomes of the first successful pediatric bilateral hand transplantation.

Methods: The child underwent quadrimembral amputation at age two and received bilateral hand allografts at age eight. Rehabilitation included biomechanical, neurorehabilitation, and occupational approaches in acute and outpatient settings.

Mental health disorders and emergency resource use and outcomes in ventricular assist device supported patients.

There are limited data describing the prevalence of mental health disorders (MHDOs) in patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs), or associations between MHDOs and resource use or outcomes. We used the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample administrative database to analyze 44,041 ED encounters for VAD-supported adults from 2010 to 2017, to assess the relationship between MHDOs and outcomes in this population. MHDO diagnoses were present for 23% of encounters, and were associated with higher charges and rates of admission, but lower mortality.

Pediatric Hand Transplantation: A Decision Analysis.

The first successful bilateral pediatric hand transplant was performed in 2015. Previous hand transplant decision analysis models have focused on the adult population. This model principally aimed to determine whether adverse outcomes associated with immunosuppression outweigh the benefits of performing bilateral hand transplant surgery in a pediatric candidate.

Pediatric Heart Transplantation: Transitioning to Adult Care (TRANSIT): Feasibility of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Young-adult heart transplant recipients transferring to adult care are at risk for poor health outcomes. We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial to determine the feasibility of and to test a transition intervention for young adults who underwent heart transplantation as children and then transferred to adult care.

Methods: Participants were randomized to the transition intervention (4 months long, focused on heart-transplant knowledge, self-care, self-advocacy, and social support) or usual care.

18-month outcomes of heterologous bilateral hand transplantation in a child: a case report.

Background: Although heterologous vascular composite allotransplantation has become a burgeoning treatment option for adult amputees, there have been no successful cases previously reported in children. Here, we describe the surgical, immunological, and neurorehabilitation details with functional outcomes 18 months after heterologous bilateral hand and forearm transplantation in an 8-year-old child with quadrimembral amputations and a previous kidney transplant.

Methods: 2 years of extensive preparation by medical and surgical teams preceded the hand-forearm transplantation of this child.

Tree-Related Injuries Associated With Response and Recovery From Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey, 2011-2014.

Objectives: Extreme weather events require extensive tree removal and disposal, tasks associated with severe injury risks among workers and residents. To help understand the risks of such activities, we evaluated the impact of a large and destructive storm (Hurricane Sandy in 2012) on the incidence of tree-related injuries.

Methods: We searched chief-complaint text fields for patients aged 18-65 from 2011-2014 emergency department visit records submitted by New Jersey hospitals through the state-based syndromic surveillance system.

Trees down, hazards abound: Observations and lessons from Hurricane Sandy.

Background: Given predictions that climate change will lead to an increase in severe storms, it is important to more fully understand the risks experienced by workers charged with the cleanup and removal of storm damaged trees. These hazards have received little attention in the occupational safety and health literature.

Methods: This paper is based on semi-structured interviews with 23 stakeholders involved in the Hurricane Sandy cleanup effort.

Pediatric Heart Transplantation: Transitioning to Adult Care (TRANSIT): Baseline Findings.

Young adult solid organ transplant recipients who transfer from pediatric to adult care experience poor outcomes related to decreased adherence to the medical regimen. Our pilot trial for young adults who had heart transplant (HT) who transfer to adult care tests an intervention focused on increasing HT knowledge, self-management and self-advocacy skills, and enhancing support, as compared to usual care. We report baseline findings between groups regarding (1) patient-level outcomes and (2) components of the intervention.

Relations of blood pressure and head injury to regional cerebral blood flow.

Hypertension confers increased risk for cognitive decline, dementia, and cerebrovascular disease. These associations have been attributed, in part, to cerebral hypoperfusion. Here we posit that relations of higher blood pressure to lower levels of cerebral perfusion may be potentiated by a prior head injury.

Assessing Barriers to the Use of Fall Protection in Small Residential Construction Companies in New Jersey.

Three focus groups were conducted with residential construction workers from local New Jersey labor organizations to characterize barriers to fall protection use among residential construction contractors who work for companies with fewer than ten employees. Thirty-six residential construction workers volunteered to participate, the average age was thirty-nine years, and twenty-four (67%) were of Hispanic origin. Twelve (33%) of the participants reported having fallen from greater than 6 ft at work and twenty (56%) of the participants had known someone who has fallen from greater than 6 ft.

Isocyanates and work-related asthma: Findings from California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey, 1993-2008.

Background: Isocyanates remain a leading cause of work-related asthma (WRA).

Methods: Two independent data systems were analyzed for the period 1993-2008: (1) State-based WRA case surveillance data on persons with isocyanate-induced WRA from four states, and (2) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) isocyanate air sampling results.

Results: We identified 368 cases of isocyanate-induced WRA from 32 industries and 678 OSHA isocyanate air samples with detectable levels from 31 industries.

Effects of demographic factors on survival time after a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry established surveillance projects to determine the incidence, prevalence, and demographic characteristics of persons with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in defined geographic areas. There is a need to characterize and account for the survival and prognostic factors among a population-based cohort of ALS cases in the United States.

Methods: A cohort of incident cases diagnosed from 2009-2011 in New Jersey was followed until death or December 31, 2013, whichever happened first.

Population-based surveillance of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in New Jersey, 2009-2011.

Background: Limited epidemiological data exist about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the United States (US). The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry maintains the National ALS Registry and funded state and metropolitan surveillance projects to obtain reliable, timely information about ALS in defined geographic areas.

Methods: Neurologists submitted case reports for ALS patients under their care between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011 who were New Jersey residents.

An empirically based practice perspective on the transition to adulthood for solid organ transplant recipients.

Preparing patients for transitioning to self-managed care and subsequently transferring to the adult healthcare system has become a critical process for clinicians working with pediatric transplant recipients. This paper reviews several barriers to a successful transition. These include patient barriers, caregiver barriers, and considerations within pediatric and adult centers.

Adolescent age and heart transplantation outcomes in myocarditis or congenital heart disease.

Background: Adolescents often fare poorly after heart transplantation. However, whether the effect of age varies according to the etiology of heart failure is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that age-related heart transplantation outcomes are different in patients with myocarditis and congenital heart disease (CHD).

Child and family adjustment following pediatric solid organ transplantation: factors to consider during the early years post-transplant.

Adjusting to life after transplant can be challenging to pediatric solid organ transplant recipients and their families. In this review, we discuss a number of important factors to consider during the first 2-3 yr after transplant (defined as the "early years"), including transitioning from hospital to home, returning to physical activity, feeding and nutrition, school reentry, potential cognitive effects of transplant, family functioning, and QOL. We highlight steps that providers can take to optimize child and family adjustment during this period.

Predictors of 30-day hospital readmission following ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Stroke patients have a high rate of 30-day readmission. Understanding the characteristics of patients at high risk of readmission is critical. A retrospective case-control study was designed to determine factors associated with 30-day readmission after stroke.