Background: Children from racial and ethnic minority groups are at greater risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but it is unclear whether they have increased risk for post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Our objectives were to assess whether the risk of respiratory and neurologic PASC differs by race/ethnicity and social drivers of health.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals <21 years seeking care at 24 health systems across the U.
Background: The impact of pre-infection vaccination on the risk of long COVID remains unclear in the pediatric population. We aim to assess the effectiveness of BNT162b2 on long COVID risks with various strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children and adolescents, using comparative effectiveness methods. We further explore if such pre-infection vaccination can mitigate the risk of long COVID beyond its established protective benefits against SARS-CoV-2 infection using causal mediation analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: The profile of gastrointestinal (GI) outcomes that may affect children in post-acute and chronic phases of COVID-19 remains unclear.
Objective: To investigate the risks of GI symptoms and disorders during the post-acute phase (28 days to 179 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection) and the chronic phase (180 days to 729 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection) in the pediatric population.
Design: We used a retrospective cohort design from March 2020 to Sept 2023.
Background: The risk of cardiovascular outcomes in the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been quantified among adults and children. This paper aimed to assess a multitude of cardiac signs, symptoms, and conditions, as well as focused on patients with and without congenital heart defects (CHDs), to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the post-acute cardiovascular outcomes among children and adolescents after COVID-19.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from the RECOVER consortium comprising 19 US children's hospitals and health institutions between March 2020 and September 2023.
Background: Current research on firearm violence is largely limited to patients who received care in emergency departments or inpatient acute care settings or who died. This is because standardized disease classification codes for firearm injury only represent bodily trauma. As a result, research on pathways and health impacts of firearm violence is largely limited to people who experienced acute bodily trauma and does not include the estimated millions of individuals who were exposed to firearm violence but did not sustain acute injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Racial bias may affect occult injury testing decisions for children with concern for abuse.
Objectives: To determine the association of race on occult injury testing decisions at children's hospitals.
Design: In this retrospective study, we measured disparities in: (1) the proportion of visits for which indicated diagnostic imaging studies for child abuse were obtained; (2) the proportion of positive tests.
Objectives: Vaccination reduces the risk of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children, but it is less clear whether it protects against long COVID. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5 to 17 years.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from 17 health systems in the RECOVER PCORnet electronic health record program for visits after vaccine availability.
Objective: Child Opportunity Index (COI) measures neighborhood contextual factors (education, health and environment, social and economic) that may influence child health. Such factors have been associated with hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC). Lower COI has been associated with higher health care utilization, yet association with rehospitalization(s) for ACSC remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Vaccination reduces the risk of acute COVID-19 in children, but it is less clear whether it protects against long COVID. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5-17 years.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from 17 health systems in the RECOVER PCORnet electronic health record (EHR) Program for visits between vaccine availability, and October 29, 2022.
Objective: Evaluate a nurse-initiated quality improvement (QI) intervention aimed at enhancing asthma treatment in a pediatric emergency department (ED), utilizing outcomes and workflow.
Methods: We evaluated the impact of QI interventions for pediatric patients presenting to the ED with asthma with pre-post analysis. A pediatric asthma score (PAS) of >8 indicated moderate to severe asthma.
Unlabelled: The Child Opportunity Index measures the structural neighborhood context that may influence a child's healthy development. We examined relationships between the Child Opportunity Index and emergency department utilization.
Background And Objectives: The Child Opportunity Index (COI) is a multidimensional measure of structural neighborhood context that may influence a child's healthy development.
Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of pediatric injury-related visits to children's hospital emergency departments (EDs) in the United States during early and later periods of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Pediatric Health Information System, an administrative database to identify injury-related ED visits at 41 United States children's hospitals during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period (March 15, 2020 to March 14, 2021) and a 3 year comparator period (March 15-March 14, 2017-2020). For these 2 periods, we compared patient characteristics, injury type and severity, primary discharge diagnoses, and disposition, stratified by early (March 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020), middle (July 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020), and late (November 1, 2020 to March 14, 2021) pandemic periods.
Background: Pediatric acute care utilization decreased dramatically during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study examined the association between the Child Opportunity Index (COI), a multidimensional neighborhood measure of childhood opportunity, and changes in acute care utilization at US pediatric hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous 3 years.
Methods: This observational study used administrative data across 41 US-based pediatric hospitals.
Objectives: To develop a tool for quantifying health disparity (Health Disparity Index[HDI]) and explore hospital variation measured by this index using chest radiography (CXR) in asthma as the proof of concept.
Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study using the Pediatric Health Information System database including children with asthma between 5 and 18 years old. Inpatient and emergency department (ED) encounters from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018, with low or moderate severity were included.
Motivation: The timely identification of patients for hospitalization in emergency departments (EDs) can facilitate efficient use of hospital resources. Machine learning can help the early prediction of ED disposition; however, application of machine learning models requires both computer science skills and domain knowledge. This presents a barrier for those who want to apply machine learning to real-world settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on pediatric emergency department (ED) visits is not well characterized. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of pediatric ED visits and resource use during the pandemic.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Pediatric Health Information System for ED visits to 27 US children's hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic period (March 15, 2020, to August 31, 2020) and a 3-year comparator period (March 15 to August 31, 2017-2019).
Objectives: Children's hospitals are increasingly focused on value-based improvement efforts to improve outcomes and lower costs. Such efforts are generally focused on improving outcomes in specific conditions. Examination of cost drivers across all admissions may facilitate strategic prioritization of efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High-cost hospitalizations (HCHs) account for a substantial proportion of pediatric health care expenditures. We aimed to (1) describe the distribution of pediatric HCHs across hospital types caring for children and (2) compare characteristics of pediatric HCHs by hospital type.
Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of all pediatric hospitalizations in the 2012 Kids' Inpatient Database.
: Timely glucocorticoid administration is associated with decreased admission rate and is thus a common quality metric for ED asthma care; less is known about the impact of the timing of glucocorticoids in the context of the sequence of asthma medications administered. Therefore, we investigated the distribution of asthma medication sequences in one ED and analyzed the effect of the sequence placement of glucocorticoids administration on treatment outcomes.: A retrospective study using five-year electronic health record data obtained from an academic urban children's hospital ED was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Sustaining electronic health data networks and maximizing return on federal investment in their development is essential for achieving national data insight goals for transforming health care. However, crossing the business model chasm from grant funding to self-sustaining viability is challenging.
Case Description: This paper presents lessons learned in seeking the sustainability of the Scalable Architecture for Federated Translational Inquiries Network (SAFTINet), and electronic health data network involving over 50 primary care practices in three states.
Background: The Colorado Asthma Toolkit Program (CATP) has been shown to improve processes of care with less evidence demonstrating improved outcomes.
Objective: To model the association between pre-and-post-CATP status and asthma-related process and outcome measures among patients ages 5 to 64 years receiving care in safety-net primary care practices.
Methods: This is an implementation study involving secondary prepost analysis of existing structured clinical, administrative, and claims data.