Using Billing Codes to Create a Pediatric Functional Status e-Score for Children Receiving Inpatient Rehabilitation.

Objective: Provide proof-of-concept for development of a Pediatric Functional Status eScore (PFSeS). Demonstrate that expert clinicians rank billing codes as relevant to patient functional status and identify the domains that codes inform in a way that reliably matches analytical modeling.

Design: Retrospective chart review, modified Delphi, and nominal group techniques.

A Review of the Selected and Newer Antiseizure Medications Used in Childhood Epilepsies.

There have been additions of newer antiseizure medications in the armamentarium of clinicians for the management of epilepsy. The newer antiseizure medications have advantages of better tolerability, lesser adverse effects, and minimal drug interactions in comparison with conventional antiseizure medications. However, high cost and availability are concerns.

Information Avoidance and Information Seeking Among Parents of Children With ASD.

We estimated the effects of information avoidance and information seeking among parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on age of diagnosis. An online survey was completed by 1,815 parents of children with ASD. Children of parents who self-reported that they had preferred "not to know," reported diagnoses around 3 months later than other children.

Clinical signs associated with earlier diagnosis of children with autism Spectrum disorder.

Background: The objective of this study is to gain new insights into the relationship between clinical signs and age at diagnosis.

Method: We utilize a new, large, online survey of 1743 parents of children diagnosed with ASD, and use multiple statistical approaches. These include regression analysis, factor analysis, and machine learning (regression tree).

The Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Social Impact of Repetitive Behavior Scale in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Introduction: Current measures of restrictive and repetitive behavior (RRB) in people with autism focus on severity and intensity and, to some degree, the global interference of the behavior. In this study we developed the Social Impact of Repetitive Behavior Scale (SIRBS) to capture several different contexts in which repetitive behavior is likely to occur and interfere.

Methods: SIRBS items were selected through reviewing the RRB literature, participant chart reviews, and consensus among authors, followed by an initial piloting and further refinement of the tool.

Differential models of twin correlations in skew for body-mass index (BMI).

Background: Body Mass Index (BMI), like most human phenotypes, is substantially heritable. However, BMI is not normally distributed; the skew appears to be structural, and increases as a function of age. Moreover, twin correlations for BMI commonly violate the assumptions of the most common variety of the classical twin model, with the MZ twin correlation greater than twice the DZ correlation.

An update on multiple sclerosis in children: diagnosis, therapies, and prospects for the future.

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, is increasingly being recognized in children and adolescents. Pediatric MS follows a relapsing-remitting course at onset, with a risk for early cognitive impairment. Areas covered: In this review, we discuss the clinical features of acute demyelinating syndromes in children and risk factors that increase the likelihood of a diagnosis of MS.

Measuring the Complexity of Treatment for Challenging Behavior using the Treatment Intensity Rating Form.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a tool to measure the complexity and intensity of psychotropic medication interventions, behavioral interventions, and issues related to crisis management for challenging behavior using a standardized rating form.

Method: The Treatment Intensity Rating Form (TIRF) is a 10-item scale with three categories: pharmacological interventions, behavior supports, and protective equipment. In a retrospective review we examined the final treatment recommendations for 74 individuals with self-injurious behavior (SIB) based on psychiatric and behavioral notes and reports.

Co-occurring behavioral difficulties in children with severe feeding problems: A descriptive study.

Background: Recent literature highlights the association between behavioral difficulties and the presence of feeding problems in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) relative to children with ASD without feeding problems. However, it is not clear to what extent behavior problems (outside of the meal setting) occur in children with feeding problems without comorbid ASD.

Aims: The purpose is to describe co-occurring behavioral difficulties of a sample of children with severe food refusal/selectivity and examine potential predictors of behavioral difficulties outside of the meal context.

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project and Studies of Risk and Resilience in Maltreated Children.

Objective: The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project was initiated to develop, for research purposes, new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures. This article reviews the rationale behind the RDoC program, its goals, and central tenets; discusses application of an RDoC framework to research with maltreated children; and highlights some clinical implications of this work.

Method: Published RDoC papers were reviewed, together with relevant preclinical and clinical studies that guide our work on risk and resilience in maltreated children.

18-month predictors of later outcomes in younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder: a baby siblings research consortium study.

Objective: Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at high risk (HR) for developing ASD as well as features of the broader autism phenotype. Although this complicates early diagnostic considerations in this cohort, it also provides an opportunity to examine patterns of behavior associated specifically with ASD compared to other developmental outcomes.

Method: We applied Classification and Regression Trees (CART) analysis to individual items of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) in 719 HR siblings to identify behavioral features at 18 months that were predictive of diagnostic outcomes (ASD, atypical development, and typical development) at 36 months.

Early head growth in infants at risk of autism: a baby siblings research consortium study.

Objective: Although early brain overgrowth is frequently reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the relationship between ASD and head circumference (HC) is less clear, with inconsistent findings from longitudinal studies that include community controls. Our aim was to examine whether head growth in the first 3 years differed between children with ASD from a high-risk (HR) sample of infant siblings of children with ASD (by definition, multiplex), HR siblings not diagnosed with ASD, and low-risk (LR) controls.

Method: Participants included 442 HR and 253 LR infants from 12 sites of the international Baby Siblings Research Consortium.

Prior experience but not size of error improves motor learning on the split-belt treadmill in young children.

Children can modify learned motor skills, such as walking, to adapt to new environments. Movement errors in these new situations drive the learning. We used split-belt walking to determine whether size of the error affects the degree of learning.

Complexities in Identifying and Defining Mathematics Learning Disability in the Primary School-Age Years.

This paper is a descriptive report of findings from a prospective longitudinal study of math disability (MD). The study was designed to address the incidence of MD during primary school, the utility of different MD definitions, and evidence of MD subtypes. The results illustrate the dynamic properties of psychometrically derived definitions of MD.