Associations Between Weight and Lower Respiratory Tract Disease Outcomes in Hospitalized Children

OBJECTIVE

To identify associations between weight status and clinical outcomes in children with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) or asthma requiring hospitalization.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 2 to 17 year old children hospitalized for LRTI and/or asthma from 2009 to 2019 using electronic health record data from the PEDSnet clinical research network. Children <2 years, those with medical complexity, and those without a calculable BMI were excluded. Children were classified as having underweight, normal weight, overweight, or class 1, 2, or 3 obesity based on Body Mass Index percentile for age and sex. Primary outcomes were need for positive pressure respiratory support and ICU admission. Subgroup analyses were performed for children with a primary diagnosis of asthma. Outcomes were modeled with mixed-effects multivariable logistic regression incorporating age, sex, and payer as fixed effects.

RESULTS

We identified 65 132 hospitalizations; 6.7% with underweight, 57.8% normal weight, 14.6% overweight, 13.2% class 1 obesity, 5.0% class 2 obesity, and 2.8% class 3 obesity. Overweight and obesity were associated with positive pressure respiratory support (class 3 obesity versus normal weight odds ratio [OR] 1.62 [1.38-1.89]) and ICU admission (class 3 obesity versus normal weight OR 1.26 [1.12-1.42]), with significant associations for all categories of overweight and obesity. Underweight was also associated with positive pressure respiratory support (OR 1.39 [1.24-1.56]) and ICU admission (1.40 [1.30-1.52]).

CONCLUSIONS

Both underweight and overweight or obesity are associated with increased severity of LRTI or asthma in hospitalized children.

Self-Reported Health Outcomes of Children and Youth with 10 Chronic Diseases

OBJECTIVES

To identify pediatric patient-reported outcomes (PROs) that are associated with chronic conditions and to evaluate the effects of chronic disease activity on PROs.

STUDY DESIGN

Participants (8-24 years old) and their parents were enrolled into 14 studies that evaluated Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System PROs across 10 chronic conditions-asthma, atopic dermatitis, cancer, cancer survivors, chronic kidney disease, Crohn's disease, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, lupus, sickle cell disease, and type 1 diabetes mellitus. PRO scores were contrasted with the US general population of children using nationally representative percentiles. PRO-specific coefficients of variation were computed to illustrate the degree of variation in scores within vs between conditions. Condition-specific measures of disease severity and Cohen d effect sizes were used to examine PRO scores by disease activity.

RESULTS

Participants included 2975 child respondents and 2392 parent respondents who provided data for 3409 unique children: 52% were 5-12 years old, 52% female, 25% African American/Black, and 14% Hispanic. Across all 10 chronic conditions, children reported more anxiety, fatigue, pain, and mobility restrictions than the general pediatric population. Variation in PRO scores within chronic disease cohorts was equivalent to variation within the general population, exceeding between-cohort variation by factors of 1.9 (mobility) to 5.7 (anxiety). Disease activity was consistently associated with poorer self-reported health, and these effects were weakest for peer relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic conditions are associated with symptoms and functional status in children and adolescents across 10 different disorders. These findings highlight the need to complement conventional clinical evaluations with those obtained directly from patients themselves using PROs.

Measuring BMI change among children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Weight control programs for children monitor BMI changes using BMI z-scores that adjust BMI for the sex and age of the child. It is, however, uncertain if BMIz is the best metric for assessing BMI change.

OBJECTIVE

To identify which of 6 BMI metrics is optimal for assessing change. We considered a metric to be optimal if its short-term variability was consistent across the entire BMI distribution.

SUBJECTS

285 643 2- to 17-year-olds with BMI measured 3 times over a 10- to 14-month period.

METHODS

We summarized each metric's variability using the within-child standard deviation.

RESULTS

Most metrics' initial or mean value correlated with short-term variability (|r| ~ 0.3 to 0.5). The metric for which the within-child variability was largely independent (r = 0.13) of the metric's initial or mean value was the percentage of the 50th expressed on a log scale. However, changes in this metric between the first and last visits were highly (r ≥ 0.97) correlated with changes in %95th and %50th.

CONCLUSIONS

Log %50 was the metric for which the short-term variability was largely independent of a child's BMI. Changes in log %50th, %95th, and %50th are strongly correlated.

Does Living near Trees and Other Vegetation Affect the Contemporaneous Odds of Asthma Exacerbation among Pediatric Asthma Patients?

Vegetation may influence asthma exacerbation through effects on aeroallergens, localized climates, air pollution, or children's behaviors and stress levels. We investigated the association between residential vegetation and asthma exacerbation by conducting a matched case-control study based on electronic health records of asthma patients, from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Our study included 17,639 exacerbation case events and 34,681 controls selected from non-exacerbation clinical visits for asthma, matched to cases by age, sex, race/ethnicity, public payment source, and residential proximity to the CHOP main campus ED and hospital. Overall greenness, tree canopy, grass/shrub cover, and impervious surface were assessed near children's homes (250 m) using satellite imagery and high-resolution landcover data. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between each vegetation/landcover measure and asthma exacerbation, with adjustment for seasonal and sociodemographic factors-for all cases, and for cases defined by diagnosis setting and exacerbation frequency. Lower odds of asthma exacerbation were observed in association with greater levels of tree canopy near the home, but only for children who experienced multiple exacerbations in a year (OR = 0.94 per 10.2% greater tree canopy coverage, 95% CI = 0.90-0.99). Our findings suggest possible protection for asthma patients from tree canopy, but differing results by case frequency suggest that potential benefits may be specific to certain subpopulations of asthmatic children.

Clinical features and burden of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents: an exploratory EHR-based cohort study from the RECOVER program

Importance

The post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) has emerged as a long-term complication in adults, but current understanding of the clinical presentation of PASC in children is limited.

Objective

To identify diagnosed symptoms, diagnosed health conditions and medications associated with PASC in children.

Design Setting and Participants

Retrospective cohort study using electronic health records from 9 US children's hospitals for individuals <21 years-old who underwent reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2 between March 1, 2020 - October 31, 2021 and had at least 1 encounter in the 3 years before testing.

Exposure

SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity.

Main Outcomes and Measures

We identified syndromic (symptoms), systemic (conditions), and medication PASC features in the 28-179 days following the initial test date. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) were obtained for 151 clinically predicted PASC features by contrasting PCR-positive with PCR-negative groups using proportional hazards models, adjusting for site, age, sex, testing location, race/ethnicity, and time-period of cohort entrance. We estimated the incidence proportion for any syndromic, systemic or medication PASC feature in the two groups to obtain a burden of PASC estimate.

Results

Among 659,286 children in the study sample, 59,893 (9.1%) tested positive by PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Most were tested in outpatient testing facility (50.3%) or office (24.6%) settings. The most common syndromic, systemic, and medication features were loss of taste or smell (aHR 1.96 [95% CI 1.16-3.32), myocarditis (aHR 3.10 [95% CI 1.94-4.96]), and cough and cold preparations (aHR 1.52 [95% CI 1.18-1.96]). The incidence of at least one systemic/syndromic/medication feature of PASC was 41.9% among PCR-positive children versus 38.2% among PCR-negative children, with an incidence proportion difference of 3.7% (95% CI 3.2-4.2%). A higher strength of association for PASC was identified in those cared for in the ICU during the acute illness phase, children less than 5 years-old, and individuals with complex chronic conditions.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this large-scale, exploratory study, the burden of pediatric PASC that presented to health systems was low. Myocarditis was the most commonly diagnosed PASC-associated condition. Acute illness severity, young age, and comorbid complex chronic disease increased the risk of PASC.

Key Points

Question: What are the incidence and clinical features of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) in children?Findings: In this retrospective cohort study of 659,286 children tested for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the symptom, condition and medication with the strongest associations with SARS-CoV-2 infection were loss of taste/smell, myocarditis, and cough and cold preparations. The incidence proportion of non-MIS-C related PASC in the PCR-positive group exceeded the PCR-negative group by 3.7% (95% CI 3.2-4.2), with increased rates associated with acute illness severity, young age, and medical complexity.Meaning: PASC in children appears to be uncommon, with features that differ from adults.

When Dialysis "Becomes Life": Pediatric Caregivers' Lived Experiences Obtained From Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures

Introduction

Qualitative research reveals significant caregiver impact resulting from managing children requiring chronic dialysis but offers few quantitative measures of their lived experiences.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study included 25 caregivers of children on chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) enrolled from 2018 to 2019 at a large pediatric dialysis program in the U.S.Patient Reported Outcomes Measures Information System (PROMIS) measures and free text commentary were collected and analyzed to evaluate the self-reported impact and wellbeing of these caregivers.

Results

Among all dialysis modalities, caregivers' positive affect (43.4 ± 10) and general life satisfaction (45.1 ± 11.5) were significantly lower than the general adult population. Compared with HD caregivers, PD caregivers demonstrated significantly more fatigue and sleep disturbance and less positive affect and life satisfaction. Amongst HD caregivers, sleep disturbance, positive affect, and meaning/purpose differed significantly from the general population. Analyses of text commentary revealed that caregivers also expressed the feelings of loss, importance of knowing the impact of dialysis prior to initiation, need for a support group, and value of home nursing.

Conclusions

Caregivers of children on chronic dialysis had significantly poorer self-rated health and wellbeing compared with the general adult population. This may be due in part to their feelings of social isolation. Our findings highlight opportunities to improve caregivers' lived experiences.

Measuring PROMIS® Global Health in Early Childhood

OBJECTIVE

Assessing general ("global") health is important to clinicians caring for patients, researchers studying patient subgroups, and epidemiologists tracking population trends. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) introduced an adult self-report Global Health measure (ages 18+) in 2009 and pediatric versions (ages 5-17 years) in 2014. Our aim was to extend global health assessment to 1-5-year olds.

METHODS

We used the PROMIS mixed-methods approach to develop PROMIS Early Childhood (EC) Global Health, emphasizing qualitative measure development guidance utilizing input from experts and parents. Quantitatively, we conducted two data collection waves with parents of 1-5-year olds and applied state-of-the-science measure development methods, including exploratory, confirmatory, and bi-factor analytics, particularly regarding potentially multi-dimensional Global Health item content. We conducted a series of hypothesis-based across-domain association analyses, which were more exploratory in nature, and known-groups validity analyses.

RESULTS

Experts emphasized the physical, mental, and social facets of global health, and parents described the broader, overarching construct. Using Waves 1 (N = 1,400) and 2 (N = 1,057) data, we retained six items directly sourced from the age 5-17 version and two new items. The resulting 8-item PROMIS EC Global Health was sufficiently unidimensional, so we fit item responses to the graded response model for parameter estimation. This produced an 8-item scale with one total score. Across-domain associations and known-groups validity analyses largely supported our hypotheses.

CONCLUSIONS

We achieved our aim to extend global health assessment to 1-5-year olds and to thereby expand the range of PROMIS life course global health assessment from children aged 1-17 years, to adults of all ages.

Evaluation of the Prevalence and Incidence of Pediatric Alopecia Areata Using Electronic Health Record Data

Importance

Pediatric alopecia areata (AA) prevalence and incidence data are key to understanding the natural history of this medical disease.

Objective

To determine the prevalence and incidence of AA in a pediatric population across time, age, sex, race and ethnicity, and geographic areas within the US.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this multicenter cohort study conducted among 5 children's hospitals, data (January 2009 to November 2020) were collected from a standardized electronic health record (PEDSnet database, version 4.0) to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of pediatric AA. The study cohort included patients younger than 18 years with at least 2 physician visits during which a diagnosis code for AA was recorded, or 1 dermatologist specialty visit for which AA was recorded.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The prevalence denominator population comprised 5 409 919 patients. The incidence denominator population was 2 896 241. We identified 5801 children for inclusion in the AA cohort, and 2398 (41.3%) had 12 months or more of follow-up and were included in the incidence analysis.

Results

Of 5801 patients in the AA cohort, the mean (SD) age was 9.0 (4.5) years, 3259 (56.2%) were female, 359 (6.2) were Asian, 1094 (18.9%) were Black, 1348 (23.2%) were Hispanic, and 2362 (40.7%) were White. The overall prevalence of pediatric AA was 0.11%, and the participants in the AA cohort were more often older, female, and members of a racial and ethnic minority group than the full PEDSnet population. The 11-year overall incidence rate of pediatric AA between 2009 and 2020 was 13.6 cases per 100 000 person-years (95% CI, 13.1-14.2). The incidence rate by age was normally distributed and peaked at age 6 years. Rates were 22.8% higher in female patients than male patients (15.1 cases per 100 000 person-years for females vs 12.3 cases per 100 000 person-years for males). Additionally, incidence rates were highest among Hispanic children (31.5 cases per 100 000 person-years).

Conclusions and Relevance

This cohort study examined the prevalence and incidence rates of pediatric AA in the US across time, age, sex, race and ethnicity, and region from 2009 to 2020, finding a prevalence of 0.11% (doubling during the last decade) and incidence rate of 13.6 cases per 100 000 person-years. Additionally, the results identified Asian and Hispanic children as high-risk demographic subgroups who were shown to be 2 and 3 times more likely, respectively, to receive a diagnosis of AA.

Severity of Acute COVID-19 in Children <18 Years Old March 2020 to December 2021

This national study evaluated trends in illness severity among 82 798 children with coronavirus disease 2019 from March 1, 2020, to December 30, 2021.

Associations between high ambient temperatures and asthma exacerbation among children in Philadelphia, PA: a time series analysis

OBJECTIVES

High ambient temperatures may contribute to acute asthma exacerbation, a leading cause of morbidity in children. We quantified associations between hot-season ambient temperatures and asthma exacerbation in children ages 0-18 years in Philadelphia, PA.

METHODS

We created a time series of daily counts of clinical encounters for asthma exacerbation at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia linked with daily meteorological data, June-August of 2011-2016. We estimated associations between mean daily temperature (up to a 5-day lag) and asthma exacerbation using generalised quasi-Poisson distributed models, adjusted for seasonal and long-term trends, day of the week, mean relative humidity,and US holiday. In secondary analyses, we ran models with adjustment for aeroallergens, air pollutants and respiratory virus counts. We quantified overall associations, and estimates stratified by encounter location (outpatient, emergency department, inpatient), sociodemographics and comorbidities.

RESULTS

The analysis included 7637 asthma exacerbation events. High mean daily temperatures that occurred 5 days before the index date were associated with higher rates of exacerbation (rate ratio (RR) comparing 33°C-13.1°C days: 1.37, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.82). Associations were most substantial for children ages 2 to <5 years and for Hispanic and non-Hispanic black children. Adjustment for air pollutants, aeroallergens and respiratory virus counts did not substantially change RR estimates.

CONCLUSIONS

This research contributes to evidence that ambient heat is associated with higher rates of asthma exacerbation in children. Further work is needed to explore the mechanisms underlying these associations.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare Worker Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of the HERO Registry

BACKGROUND

The extent to which healthcare worker (HCWs) experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic vary by race or ethnicity after adjustment for confounding factors is not currently known.

METHODS

We performed an observational prospective cohort study of 24,769 healthcare workers from 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, enrolled between April 10, 2020 and June 30, 2021, and evaluated participant experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, including testing, diagnosis with COVID-19, emotional experiences, burnout, and interest in vaccines and vaccine clinical trials.

FINDINGS

After adjustment for professional role, medical history, and community characteristics, Black and Asian participants were less likely to receive SARS-CoV-2 viral testing (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0·82 [0·70, 0·96], p=0·012 and aOR 0·77 [0·67, 0·89], p<0·001 respectively) than White participants. Hispanic participants were more likely to have evidence of COVID-19 infection (aOR 1·23 (1·00, 1·50, p=0·048). Black and Asian participants were less likely to report interest in a COVID-19 vaccine (aOR 0·11 [0·05, 0·25], p<0·001 and aOR 0·48 [0·27, 0·85] p=0·012). Black participants were less likely to report interest in participating in a COVID-19 vaccine trial (aOR = 0·39 [0·28, 0·54], p<0·001). Black participants were also less likely to report 3 or more daily emotional impacts of COVID-19 (aOR = 0·66 [0·53, 0·82], p=<0·001). Black participants were additionally less likely to report burnout (aOR = 0·66 ([0·49, 0·95], p=0·025).

INTERPRETATION

In a large, national study of healthcare workers, after adjustment for individual and community characteristics, race/ethnicity disparities in COVID-19 outcomes persist. Future work is urgently needed to understand precise mechanisms behind these disparities and to develop and implement targeted interventions to improve health equity for healthcare workers.

FUNDING

This work was funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Contract # COVID-19-2020-001.

Preliminary development of recommendations for the inclusion of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical quality registries

BACKGROUND

Clinical quality registries (CQRs) monitor compliance against optimal practice and provide feedback to the clinical community and wider stakeholder groups. Despite a number of CQRs having incorporated the patient perspective to support the evaluation of healthcare delivery, no recommendations for inclusion of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in CQRs exist. The aim of this study was to develop a core set of recommendations for PROMs inclusion of in CQRs.

METHOD

An online two-round Delphi survey was performed among CQR data custodians, quality of life researchers, biostatisticians and clinicians largely recruited in Australia. A list of statements for the recommendations was identified from a literature and survey of the Australian registries conducted in 2019. The statements were grouped into the following domains: rationale, setting, ethics, instrument, administration, data management, statistical methods, and feedback and reporting. Eighteen experts were invited to participate, 11 agreed to undertake the first online survey (round 1). Of these, nine experts completed the online survey for round 2.

RESULTS

From 117 statements presented to the Delphi panel in round 1, a total of 72 recommendations (55 from round 1 and 17 from round 2) with median importance (MI) ≥ 7 and disagreement index (DI) < 1 were proposed for inclusion into the final draft set and were reviewed by the project team. Recommendations were refined for clarity and to read as stand-alone statements. Ten overlapped conceptually and, therefore, were merged to reduce repetition. The final 62 recommendations were sent for review to the panel members for their feedback, which was incorporated into the final set.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to develop preliminary recommendations for PROMs inclusion in CQRs. Recommendations for PROMs implementation are critically important for registries to assure meaningful PROMs data capture, use, interpretation, and reporting to improve health outcomes and healthcare value.

Using a Multi-Institutional Pediatric Learning Health System to Identify Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Lupus Nephritis: Development and Validation of Computable Phenotypes

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Performing adequately powered clinical trials in pediatric diseases, such as SLE, is challenging. Improved recruitment strategies are needed for identifying patients.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS

Electronic health record algorithms were developed and tested to identify children with SLE both with and without lupus nephritis. We used single-center electronic health record data to develop computable phenotypes composed of diagnosis, medication, procedure, and utilization codes. These were evaluated iteratively against a manually assembled database of patients with SLE. The highest-performing phenotypes were then evaluated across institutions in PEDSnet, a national health care systems network of >6.7 million children. Reviewers blinded to case status used standardized forms to review random samples of cases (n=350) and noncases (n=350).

RESULTS

Final algorithms consisted of both utilization and diagnostic criteria. For both, utilization criteria included two or more in-person visits with nephrology or rheumatology and ≥60 days follow-up. SLE diagnostic criteria included absence of neonatal lupus, one or more hydroxychloroquine exposures, and either three or more qualifying diagnosis codes separated by ≥30 days or one or more diagnosis codes and one or more kidney biopsy procedure codes. Sensitivity was 100% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 99 to 100), specificity was 92% (95% CI, 88 to 94), positive predictive value was 91% (95% CI, 87 to 94), and negative predictive value was 100% (95% CI, 99 to 100). Lupus nephritis diagnostic criteria included either three or more qualifying lupus nephritis diagnosis codes (or SLE codes on the same day as glomerular/kidney codes) separated by ≥30 days or one or more SLE diagnosis codes and one or more kidney biopsy procedure codes. Sensitivity was 90% (95% CI, 85 to 94), specificity was 93% (95% CI, 89 to 97), positive predictive value was 94% (95% CI, 89 to 97), and negative predictive value was 90% (95% CI, 84 to 94). Algorithms identified 1508 children with SLE at PEDSnet institutions (537 with lupus nephritis), 809 of whom were seen in the past 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Electronic health record-based algorithms for SLE and lupus nephritis demonstrated excellent classification accuracy across PEDSnet institutions.

Interrelationships among age at adiposity rebound, BMI during childhood, and BMI after age 14 years in an electronic health record database

OBJECTIVE

This study compared the importance of age at adiposity rebound versus childhood BMI to subsequent BMI levels in a longitudinal analysis.

METHODS

From the electronic health records of 4.35 million children, a total of 12,228 children were selected who were examined at least once each year between ages 2 and 7 years and reexamined after age 14 years. The minimum number of examinations per child was six. Each child's rebound age was estimated using locally weighted regression (lowess), a smoothing technique.

RESULTS

Children who had a rebound age < 3 years were, on average, 7 kg/m2 heavier after age 14 years than were children with a rebound age ≥ 7 years. However, BMI after age 14 years was more strongly associated with BMI at the rebound than with rebound age (r = 0.57 vs. -0.44). Furthermore, a child's BMI at age 3 years provided more information on BMI after age 14 years than did rebound age. In addition, rebound age provided no information on subsequent BMI if a child's BMI at age 6 years was known.

CONCLUSIONS

Although rebound age is related to BMI after age 14 years, a child's BMI at age 3 years provides more information and is easier to obtain.

The built and social neighborhood environment and child obesity: A systematic review of longitudinal studies

The built and social neighborhood environment where a child lives has been increasingly studied as an exposure that may affect child weight long term. We conducted a systematic review of primary research articles published in 2011 through 2019 that reported results from longitudinal analyses of associations between neighborhood environment characteristics and child obesity or weight. Neighborhood environment measures included proximity to food stores, parks, and recreational facilities, walkability, crime, perceived safety, and social cohesion. Information on study population, exposure and outcome measures, and main results were extracted from 39 studies and results were presented for full cohorts and stratified by sex. Most studies were prospective cohorts (90%) with a median follow-up time of six years. Studies analyzing changes in the neighborhood versus changes in weight were less common than approaches analyzing baseline measures of the neighborhood environment in relation to obesity incidence or weight trajectories. Associations varied by sex, race/ethnicity, and age group. Within the food environment domain, the strongest evidence of adverse impact was for fast food restaurants but the effect was only apparent among girls. Results suggested green space, parks, and recreational facilities may have a beneficial effect on weight. Increased crime and low perceived safety may be risk factors for increased weight although not all studies were consistent. Standardization of measures across studies, investigation of multiple social and physical environment measures simultaneously, effect modification by demographic characteristics, and change in the environment vs change in weight analyses are needed to strengthen conclusions.

Weight Status and Risk of Inpatient Admission for Children With Lower Respiratory Tract Disease

OBJECTIVES

To identify associations between weight category and hospital admission for lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD), defined as asthma, community-acquired pneumonia, viral pneumonia, or bronchiolitis, among children evaluated in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs).

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of children 2 to <18 years of age evaluated in the PED at 6 children's hospitals within the PEDSnet clinical research network from 2009 to 2019. BMI percentile of children was classified as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and class 1, 2, or 3 obesity. Children with complex chronic conditions were excluded. Mixed-effects multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between BMI categories and hospitalization or 7- and 30-day PED revisits, adjusted for covariates (age, sex, race and ethnicity, and payer).

RESULTS

Among 107 446 children with 218 180 PED evaluations for LRTD, 4.5% had underweight, 56.4% had healthy normal weight, 16.1% had overweight, 14.6% had class 1 obesity, 5.5% had class 2 obesity, and 3.0% had class 3 obesity. Underweight was associated with increased risk of hospital admission compared with normal weight (odds ratio [OR] 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.69-1.84). Overweight (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.85-0.90), class 1 obesity (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.85-0.91), and class 2 obesity (OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.87-0.96) had negative associations with hospital admission. Class 1 and class 2, but not class 3, obesity had small positive associations with 7- and 30-day PED revisits.

CONCLUSIONS

We found an inverse relationship between patient weight category and risk for hospital admission in children evaluated in the PED for LRTD.

Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Methods to Characterize Unstructured Patient-Reported Outcomes: Validation Study

BACKGROUND

Assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) through interviews or conversations during clinical encounters provides insightful information about survivorship.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to test the validity of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms in identifying different attributes of pain interference and fatigue symptoms experienced by child and adolescent survivors of cancer versus the judgment by PRO content experts as the gold standard to validate NLP/ML algorithms.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study focused on child and adolescent survivors of cancer, aged 8 to 17 years, and caregivers, from whom 391 meaning units in the pain interference domain and 423 in the fatigue domain were generated for analyses. Data were collected from the After Completion of Therapy Clinic at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Experienced pain interference and fatigue symptoms were reported through in-depth interviews. After verbatim transcription, analyzable sentences (ie, meaning units) were semantically labeled by 2 content experts for each attribute (physical, cognitive, social, or unclassified). Two NLP/ML methods were used to extract and validate the semantic features: bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) and Word2vec plus one of the ML methods, the support vector machine or extreme gradient boosting. Receiver operating characteristic and precision-recall curves were used to evaluate the accuracy and validity of the NLP/ML methods.

RESULTS

Compared with Word2vec/support vector machine and Word2vec/extreme gradient boosting, BERT demonstrated higher accuracy in both symptom domains, with 0.931 (95% CI 0.905-0.957) and 0.916 (95% CI 0.887-0.941) for problems with cognitive and social attributes on pain interference, respectively, and 0.929 (95% CI 0.903-0.953) and 0.917 (95% CI 0.891-0.943) for problems with cognitive and social attributes on fatigue, respectively. In addition, BERT yielded superior areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for cognitive attributes on pain interference and fatigue domains (0.923, 95% CI 0.879-0.997; 0.948, 95% CI 0.922-0.979) and superior areas under the precision-recall curve for cognitive attributes on pain interference and fatigue domains (0.818, 95% CI 0.735-0.917; 0.855, 95% CI 0.791-0.930).

CONCLUSIONS

The BERT method performed better than the other methods. As an alternative to using standard PRO surveys, collecting unstructured PROs via interviews or conversations during clinical encounters and applying NLP/ML methods can facilitate PRO assessment in child and adolescent cancer survivors.

Clinical data for paediatric research: the Swiss approach : Proceedings of the National Symposium in Bern, Switzerland, Dec 5-6, 2019

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Continuous improvement of health and healthcare system is hampered by inefficient processes of generating new evidence, particularly in the case of rare diseases and paediatrics. Currently, most evidence is generated through specific research projects, which typically require extra encounters with patients, are costly and entail long delays between the recognition of specific needs in healthcare and the generation of necessary evidence to address those needs. The Swiss Personalised Health Network (SPHN) aims to improve the use of data obtained during routine healthcare encounters by harmonizing data across Switzerland and facilitating accessibility for research. The project "Harmonising the collection of health-related data and biospecimens in paediatric hospitals throughout Switzerland (SwissPedData)" was an infrastructure development project funded by the SPHN, which aimed to identify and describe available data on child health in Switzerland and to agree on a standardised core dataset for electronic health records across all paediatric teaching hospitals. Here, we describe the results of a two-day symposium that aimed to summarise what had been achieved in the SwissPedData project, to put it in an international context, and to discuss the next steps for a sustainable future. The target audience included clinicians and researchers who produce and use health-related data on children in Switzerland.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The symposium consisted of state-of-the-art lectures from national and international keynote speakers, workshops and plenary discussions. This manuscript summarises the talks and discussions in four sections: (I) a description of the Swiss Personalized Health Network and the results of the SwissPedData project; (II) examples of similar initiatives from other countries; (III) an overview of existing health-related datasets and projects in Switzerland; and (IV) a summary of the lessons learned and future prospective from workshops and plenary discussions.

IMPLICATIONS

Streamlined processes linking initial collection of information during routine healthcare encounters, standardised recording of this information in electronic health records and fast accessibility for research are essential to accelerate research in child health and make it affordable. Ongoing projects prove that this is feasible in Switzerland and elsewhere. International collaboration is vital to success. The next steps include the implementation of the SwissPedData core dataset in the clinical information systems of Swiss hospitals, the use of this data to address priority research questions, and the acquisition of sustainable funding to support a slim central infrastructure and local support in each hospital. This will lay the foundation for a national paediatric learning health system in Switzerland.

Design of the healthcare worker exposure response and outcomes (HERO) research platform

BACKGROUND

The SARS CoV-2 virus has caused one of the deadliest pandemics in recent history, resulting in over 170 million deaths and global economic disruption. There remains an urgent need for clinical trials to test therapies for treatment and prevention.

DESIGN

An online research platform was created to support a registry community of healthcare workers (HCWs) to understand their experiences and conduct clinical studies to address their concerns. The first study, HERO-HCQ, was a double-blind, multicenter, randomized, pragmatic trial to evaluate the superiority of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) vs placebo for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of COVID-19 clinical infection in HCWs. Secondary objectives were to assess the efficacy of HCQ in preventing viral shedding of COVID-19 among HCWs and to assess the safety and tolerability of HCQ.

METHODS

HCWs joined the Registry and were pre-screened for trial interest and eligibility. Trial participants were randomized 1:1 to receive HCQ or placebo. On-site baseline assessment included a COVID-19 nasopharyngeal PCR and blood serology test. Weekly follow-up was done via an online portal and included screening for symptoms of COVID-19, self-reported testing, adverse events, and quality of life assessments. The on-site visit was repeated at Day 30.

DISCUSSION

The HERO research platform offers an approach to rapidly engage, screen, invite and enroll into clinical studies using a novel participant-facing online portal interface and remote data collection, enabling limited onsite procedures for conduct of a pragmatic clinical trial. This platform may be an example for future clinical trials of common conditions to enable more rapid evidence generation.

A Longitudinal Comparison of Alternatives to Body Mass Index Z-Scores for Children with Very High Body Mass Indexes

OBJECTIVE

The current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) body mass index (BMI) z-scores are inaccurate for BMIs of ≥97th percentile. We, therefore, considered 5 alternatives that can be used across the entire BMI distribution: modified BMI-for-age z-score (BMIz), BMI expressed as a percentage of the 95th percentile (%CDC95th percentile), extended BMIz, BMI expressed as a percentage of the median (%median), and %median adjusted for the dispersion of BMIs.

STUDY DESIGN

We illustrate the behavior of the metrics among children of different ages and BMIs. We then compared the longitudinal tracking of the BMI metrics in electronic health record data from 1.17 million children in PEDSnet using the intraclass correlation coefficient to determine if 1 metric was superior.

RESULTS

Our examples show that using CDC BMIz for high BMIs can result in nonsensical results. All alternative metrics showed higher tracking than CDC BMIz among children with obesity. Of the alternatives, modified BMIz performed poorly among children with severe obesity, and %median performed poorly among children who did not have obesity at their first visit. The highest intraclass correlation coefficients were generally seen for extended BMIz, adjusted %median, and %CDC95th percentile.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the examples of differences in the BMI metrics, the longitudinal tracking results and current familiarity BMI z-scores and percentiles. Both extended BMIz and extended BMI percentiles may be suitable replacements for the current z-scores and percentiles. These metrics are identical to those in the CDC growth charts for BMIs of <95th percentile and are superior for very high BMIs. Researchers' familiarity with the current CDC z-scores and clinicians with the CDC percentiles may ease the transition to the extended BMI scale.

Association of Early Antibiotic Exposure With Childhood Body Mass Index Trajectory Milestones

IMPORTANCE

Past studies have showed associations between antibiotic exposure and child weight outcomes. Few, however, have documented alterations to body mass index (BMI) (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) trajectory milestone patterns during childhood after early-life antibiotic exposure.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association of antibiotic use during the first 48 months of life with BMI trajectory milestones during childhood in a large cohort of children.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This retrospective cohort study used electronic health record data from 26 institutions participating in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2016. Participant inclusion required at least 1 valid set of same-day height and weight measurements at each of the following age periods: 0 to 5, 6 to 11, 12 to 23, 24 to 59, and 60 to 131 months (183 444 children). Data were analyzed from June 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

EXPOSURES

Antibiotic use at 0 to 5, 6 to 11, 12 to 23, 24 to 35, and 36 to 47 months of age.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Age and magnitude of BMI peak and BMI rebound.

RESULTS

Of 183 444 children in the study (mean age, 3.3 years [range, 0-10.9 years]; 95 228 [51.9%] were boys; 80 043 [43.6%] were White individuals), 78.1% received any antibiotic, 51.0% had at least 1 episode of broad-spectrum antibiotic exposure, and 65.0% had at least 1 episode of narrow-spectrum antibiotic exposure at any time before 48 months of age. Exposure to any antibiotics at 0 to 5 months of age (vs no exposure) was associated with later age (β coefficient, 0.05 months [95% CI, 0.02-0.08 months]) and higher BMI (β coefficient, 0.09 [95% CI, 0.07-0.11]) at peak. Exposure to any antibiotics at 0 to 47 months of age (vs no exposure) was associated with an earlier age (-0.60 months [95% CI, -0.81 to -0.39 months]) and higher BMI at rebound (β coefficient, 0.02 [95% CI, 0.01-0.03]). These associations were strongest for children with at least 4 episodes of antibiotic exposure. Effect estimates for associations with age at BMI rebound were larger for those exposed to antibiotics at 24 to 35 months of age (β coefficient, -0.63 [95% CI, -0.83 to -0.43] months) or 36 to 47 (β coefficient, -0.52 [95% CI, -0.72 to -0.31] months) than for those exposed at 0 to 5 months of age (β coefficient, 0.26 [95% CI, 0.01-0.51] months) or 6 to 11 (β coefficient, 0.00 [95% CI, -0.20 to 0.20] months).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cohort study, antibiotic exposure was associated with statistically significant, but small, differences in BMI trajectory milestones in infancy and early childhood. The small risk of an altered BMI trajectory milestone pattern associated with early-life antibiotic exposure is unlikely to be a key factor during prescription decisions for children.

Effects of ambient air pollution on childhood asthma exacerbation in the Philadelphia metropolitan Region, 2011-2014

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃) air pollutants are known risk factors for asthma exacerbation. We studied the association of these air pollutants with pediatric asthma exacerbation in the Philadelphia metropolitan region, and evaluated potential effect modification by children's characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, atopic conditions) and environmental factors (e.g., neighborhood tree canopy, meteorological factors, aeroallergens). We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of 54,632 pediatric (age ≤18 years) asthma exacerbation cases occurring from 2011 to 2014, identified through electronic health records (EHR) of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) health system. We applied conditional logistic regression to estimate associations between air pollution and asthma exacerbation, using daily census-tract level pollutant concentrations estimated from the EPA Fused Air Quality Surface Using Downscaling (FAQSD) files. The associations were estimated within warm (Apr-Sep) and cold (Oct-Mar) months for unlagged exposure and for cumulative effects up to 5 days after exposure, with adjustment for temperature, relative humidity, and holidays. We found small increases in odds of asthma exacerbation with higher pollutant concentrations, with positive associations (OR, comparing concentrations of 75th to 25th percentile) observed for PM_2.5 during both warm (1.03, 95% CI: 0.98-1.08) and cold months (1.05, 95% CI: 1.02-1.07), and for O₃ during cold months (1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.14). The exposure-response relationship with PM_2.5 during the cold months was essentially linear, whereas thresholds of effect were observed for the other associations at low-medium pollutant concentrations. Results were robust to multi-pollutant modeling and adjustment for additional covariates. We found no effect modification by most children's characteristics, while effect sizes were higher on days with detected tree and grass pollens during warm months. Our results suggest that even small decreases in pollutant concentrations could potentially reduce risk of childhood asthma exacerbation - an important finding, given the high burden of childhood asthma and known disparities in asthma control.

Sleep Disturbance in School-Aged Children with Atopic Dermatitis: Prevalence and Severity in a Cross-Sectional Sample

BACKGROUND

Atopic dermatitis (AD) causes sleep disturbance but the epidemiology is not known.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the US prevalence of sleep disturbance and its impact on psychological and neurocognitive function.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 180 parent-child dyads with AD using stratified sampling based on disease severity (Patient Oriented Eczema Measure: mild [n = 30), moderate (n = 75) or severe (n = 75]), age, and race (White or Black or African American or other). Symptoms of sleep and psychologic health were assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System. To estimate the prevalence of sleep disturbance, we calculated weights using poststratification adjustment making marginal frequencies of AD severity, race, and age similar to marginal frequencies in the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. Unweighted regression models examined associations with sleep disturbance.

RESULTS

In children age 5 to 17 years with AD, we estimated that sleep disturbance occurred in 66.9% (95% confidence interval, 53.3% to 80.5%; 3,116,305 children). The odds of severe sleep disturbance (worse than 95% of US children) were highest in moderate to severe versus mild AD (2.03 [1.00-4.10]; P = .0495; compared with 8.68 [1.82-41.49]; P = .0068). Predictors of parent proxy-reported sleep disturbance were itch intensity (adjusted β [95% confidence interval] 1.33 [0.62-2.04]) and low income (<$50,000: 6.64 [2.05-11.23]; and $50,000 to less than 100,000: 4.75 [0.35-9.14]). Controlling for disease severity, itch intensity, and significant sociodemographics-parent-proxy, reported sleep disturbance was associated with increased severity of sleep-related impairment, depression, fatigue, and anxiety, in addition to worse inattention and impulsivity. In fully adjusted models, children who self-reported sleep disturbance (T-score ≥60) had increased odds of sleep-related impairment (1.20 [1.11-1.29]), depression (1.13 [1.03, 1.24]), fatigue (1.28 [1.06-1.54]), and anxiety (1.16 [1.02-1.31]).

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep disturbance is a common symptom of AD. It affects about 3 million US children and is associated with neuropsychiatric impairment, including depression, anxiety, and inattention. Clinicians should screen for these symptoms in school-aged children, particularly those with moderate to severe AD.

Impact of the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Healthcare Workers: Results from the HERO Registry

BACKGROUND

The HERO registry was established to support research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on US healthcare workers.

OBJECTIVE

Describe the COVID-19 pandemic experiences of and effects on individuals participating in the HERO registry.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, self-administered registry enrollment survey conducted from April 10 to July 31, 2020.

SETTING

Participants worked in hospitals (74.4%), outpatient clinics (7.4%), and other settings (18.2%) located throughout the nation.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 14,600 healthcare workers.

MAIN MEASURES

COVID-19 exposure, viral and antibody testing, diagnosis of COVID-19, job burnout, and physical and emotional distress.

KEY RESULTS

Mean age was 42.0 years, 76.4% were female, 78.9% were White, 33.2% were nurses, 18.4% were physicians, and 30.3% worked in settings at high risk for COVID-19 exposure (e.g., ICUs, EDs, COVID-19 units). Overall, 43.7% reported a COVID-19 exposure and 91.3% were exposed at work. Just 3.8% in both high- and low-risk settings experienced COVID-19 illness. In regression analyses controlling for demographics, professional role, and work setting, the risk of COVID-19 illness was higher for Black/African-Americans (aOR 2.32, 99% CI 1.45, 3.70, p < 0.01) and Hispanic/Latinos (aOR 2.19, 99% CI 1.55, 3.08, p < 0.01) compared with Whites. Overall, 41% responded that they were experiencing job burnout. Responding about the day before they completed the survey, 53% of participants reported feeling tired a lot of the day, 51% stress, 41% trouble sleeping, 38% worry, 21% sadness, 19% physical pain, and 15% anger. On average, healthcare workers reported experiencing 2.4 of these 7 distress feelings a lot of the day.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthcare workers are at high risk for COVID-19 exposure, but rates of COVID-19 illness were low. The greater risk of COVID-19 infection among race/ethnicity minorities reported in the general population is also seen in healthcare workers. The HERO registry will continue to monitor changes in healthcare worker well-being during the pandemic.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04342806.

Prediction of early childhood obesity with machine learning and electronic health record data

OBJECTIVE

This study compares seven machine learning models developed to predict childhood obesity from age > 2 to ≤ 7 years using Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) data up to age 2 years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

EHR data from of 860,510 patients with 11,194,579 healthcare encounters were obtained from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After applying stringent quality control to remove implausible growth values and including only individuals with all recommended wellness visits by age 7 years, 27,203 (50.78 % male) patients remained for model development. Seven machine learning models were developed to predict obesity incidence as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (age/sex adjusted BMI>95th percentile). Model performance was evaluated by multiple standard classifier metrics and the differences among seven models were compared using the Cochran's Q test and post-hoc pairwise testing.

RESULTS

XGBoost yielded 0.81 (0.001) AUC, which outperformed all other models. It also achieved statistically significant better performance than all other models on standard classifier metrics (sensitivity fixed at 80 %): precision 30.90 % (0.22 %), F1-socre 44.60 % (0.26 %), accuracy 66.14 % (0.41 %), and specificity 63.27 % (0.41 %).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Early childhood obesity prediction models were developed from the largest cohort reported to date. Relative to prior research, our models generalize to include males and females in a single model and extend the time frame for obesity incidence prediction to 7 years of age. The presented machine learning model development workflow can be adapted to various EHR-based studies and may be valuable for developing other clinical prediction models.

Cross-Sectional Associations of Built and Social Neighborhood Environment Variables with Body Mass Index in a Large Sample of Urban Predominantly African American Children

Background and Objectives: Neighborhood environments may play a role in the development of child obesity by providing or limiting opportunities for children to be physically active and access healthy food near the home. This study quantifies associations between the neighborhood built and social environment and age- and sex- standardized body mass index (BMI) z-scores in a predominantly African American urban sample. Methods: Electronic health record data from a pediatric integrated delivery system (N = 26,460 children, 6 to 19 years old in Philadelphia in 2014) were linked to eight built and social neighborhood environment characteristics. Generalized estimating equations were used to obtain adjusted associations between neighborhood features and age- and sex-adjusted BMI Z-score. Interactions between built and social exposures were examined, as well as effect modification by age, sex, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and population density. Results: Of 26,460 children, 17% were overweight and 21% were obese. After adjustment for individual- and neighborhood-level confounders, higher neighborhood greenness and higher walkability were associated with lower BMI z-score [mean difference per standard deviation (SD): -0.069 (95% confidence interval: [-0.108 to -0.031] and -0.051 [-0.085, -0.017], respectively)]. Higher levels of neighborhood food and physical activity resources were associated with higher BMI z-score [mean difference per SD 0.031 (0.012 and 0.050)]. We observed no interaction between the built and social neighborhood measures. Conclusion: Policies to promote walkability and greening of urban neighborhoods may contribute to preventing obesity in children.

A maturity grid assessment tool for learning networks

BACKGROUND

The vision of learning healthcare systems (LHSs) is attractive as a more effective model for health care services, but achieving the vision is complex. There is limited literature describing the processes needed to construct such multicomponent systems or to assess development.

METHODS

We used the concept of a capability maturity matrix to describe the maturation of necessary infrastructure and processes to create learning networks (LNs), multisite collaborative LHSs that use an actor-oriented network organizational architecture. We developed a network maturity grid (NMG) assessment tool by incorporating information from literature review, content theory from existing networks, and expert opinion to establish domains and components. We refined the maturity grid in response to feedback from network leadership teams. We followed NMG scores over time for nine LNs and plotted scores for each domain component with respect to SD for one participating network. We sought subjective feedback on the experience of applying the NMG to individual networks.

RESULTS

LN leaders evaluated the scope, depth, and applicability of the NMG to their networks. Qualitative feedback from network leaders indicated that changes in NMG scores over time aligned with leaders' reports about growth in specific domains; changes in scores were consistent with network efforts to improve in various areas. Scores over time showed differences in maturation in the individual domains of each network. Scoring patterns, and SD for domain component scores, indicated consistency among LN leaders in some but not all aspects of network maturity. A case example from a participating network highlighted the value of the NMG in prompting strategic discussions about network development and demonstrated that the process of using the tool was itself valuable.

CONCLUSIONS

The capability maturity grid proposed here provides a framework to help those interested in creating Learning Health Networks plan and develop them over time.

Sleep practices in pediatric cancer patients: Indirect effects on sleep disturbances and symptom burden

OBJECTIVE

Sleep hygiene recommendations are commonly given to address patient-reported concerns about sleep, yet few studies have examined the relationship between sleep hygiene and sleep disturbances in the context of pediatric oncology. Because poor sleep may affect the patient's experience of cancer-related symptoms, understanding whether sleep hygiene practices influence sleep disturbances and symptoms may be important to improving symptom burden.

METHODS

One hundred and two caregivers of children ages 5-17 and 59 patients ages 8-17 receiving treatment for cancer completed parallel measures of child sleep, sleep hygiene, pain, fatigue, and nausea. Sleep hygiene practices were described, correlates between measures were examined, and the indirect relationship of sleep hygiene on symptom burden through sleep disturbances was tested using PROCESS.

RESULTS

Patients received adequate sleep for age but sleep timing was later than recommended for more than half of the sample and consistency in sleep times was poor. Sleep disturbances were moderately related to all symptoms, with the exception of patient-reported fatigue. Consistent sleep habits were indirectly related to fewer cancer-related symptoms of pain, fatigue, and nausea through sleep disturbances by caregiver report but not patient report.

CONCLUSION

Sleep disturbances are closely related to pain, fatigue, and nausea in pediatric cancer. Consistency in sleep/wake routines and schedules may be important to experiencing fewer sleep disturbances and lower symptom burden. Providing recommendations supporting consistent sleep habits broadly across pediatric oncology may be more effective than only presenting sleep hygiene recommendations to patients experiencing poor sleep.

Considerations to Support Use of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Pediatric Measures in Ambulatory Clinics

OBJECTIVE

To identify challenges to the use of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric measures in the ambulatory pediatric setting and possible solutions to these challenges.

STUDY DESIGN

Eighteen semistructured telephone interviews of health system leaders, measurement implementers, and ambulatory pediatric clinicians were conducted. Five coders used applied thematic analysis to iteratively identify and refine themes in interview data.

RESULTS

Most interviewees had roles in leadership or the implementation of patient-centered outcomes; 39% were clinicians. Some had experience using PROMIS clinically (44%) and 6% were considering this use. Analyses yielded 6 themes: (1) selection of PROMIS measures, (2) method of administration, (3) use of PROMIS Parent Proxy measures, (4) privacy and confidentiality of PROMIS responses, (5) interpretation of PROMIS scores, and (6) using PROMIS scores clinically. Within the themes, interviewees illuminated specific unique considerations for using PROMIS with children, including care transitions and privacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Real-world challenges continue to hamper PROMIS use. Ongoing efforts to disseminate information about the integration of PROMIS measures in clinical care is critical to impacting the health of children.

Early Life Antibiotic Prescriptions and Weight Outcomes in Children 10 Years of Age

OBJECTIVE

We previously found that antibiotic use at <24 months of age was associated with slightly higher body weight at 5 years of age. In this study, we examine associations of early life antibiotic prescriptions with weight outcomes at 108 to 132 months of age ("10 years").

METHODS

We used electronic health record data from 2009 through 2016 from 10 health systems in PCORnet, a national distributed clinical research network. We examined associations of any (vs no) antibiotics at <24 months of age with body mass index z-score (BMI-z) at 10 years adjusted for confounders selected a priori. We further examined dose response (number of antibiotic episodes) and antibiotic spectrum (narrow and broad).

RESULTS

Among 56,727 included children, 57% received any antibiotics at <24 months; at 10 years, mean (standard deviation) BMI-z was 0.54 (1.14), and 36% had overweight or obesity. Any versus no antibiotic use at <24 months was associated with a slightly higher BMI-z at 10 years among children without a complex chronic condition (β 0.03; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01, 0.05) or with a complex chronic condition (β 0.09; 95% CI 0.03, 0.15). Any versus no antibiotic use was not associated with odds of overweight or obesity at 10 years among children without (odds ratio 1.02; 95% CI 0.97, 1.07) or with a complex chronic condition (odds ratio 1.07; 95% CI 0.96, 1.19).

CONCLUSIONS

The small and likely clinically insignificant associations in this study are consistent with our previous 5-year follow-up results, suggesting that, if this relationship is indeed causal, early increases in weight are small but maintained over time.

Assessment of 135 794 Pediatric Patients Tested for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Across the United States

IMPORTANCE

There is limited information on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing and infection among pediatric patients across the United States.

OBJECTIVE

To describe testing for SARS-CoV-2 and the epidemiology of infected patients.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using electronic health record data from 135 794 patients younger than 25 years who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 from January 1 through September 8, 2020. Data were from PEDSnet, a network of 7 US pediatric health systems, comprising 6.5 million patients primarily from 11 states. Data analysis was performed from September 8 to 24, 2020.

EXPOSURE

Testing for SARS-CoV-2.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

SARS-CoV-2 infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness.

RESULTS

A total of 135 794 pediatric patients (53% male; mean [SD] age, 8.8 [6.7] years; 3% Asian patients, 15% Black patients, 11% Hispanic patients, and 59% White patients; 290 per 10 000 population [range, 155-395 per 10 000 population across health systems]) were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and 5374 (4%) were infected with the virus (12 per 10 000 population [range, 7-16 per 10 000 population]). Compared with White patients, those of Black, Hispanic, and Asian race/ethnicity had lower rates of testing (Black: odds ratio [OR], 0.70 [95% CI, 0.68-0.72]; Hispanic: OR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.63-0.67]; Asian: OR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.57-0.63]); however, they were significantly more likely to have positive test results (Black: OR, 2.66 [95% CI, 2.43-2.90]; Hispanic: OR, 3.75 [95% CI, 3.39-4.15]; Asian: OR, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.69-2.48]). Older age (5-11 years: OR, 1.25 [95% CI, 1.13-1.38]; 12-17 years: OR, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.73-2.12]; 18-24 years: OR, 3.51 [95% CI, 3.11-3.97]), public payer (OR, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.31-1.57]), outpatient testing (OR, 2.13 [1.86-2.44]), and emergency department testing (OR, 3.16 [95% CI, 2.72-3.67]) were also associated with increased risk of infection. In univariate analyses, nonmalignant chronic disease was associated with lower likelihood of testing, and preexisting respiratory conditions were associated with lower risk of positive test results (standardized ratio [SR], 0.78 [95% CI, 0.73-0.84]). However, several other diagnosis groups were associated with a higher risk of positive test results: malignant disorders (SR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.19-1.93]), cardiac disorders (SR, 1.18 [95% CI, 1.05-1.32]), endocrinologic disorders (SR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.31-1.75]), gastrointestinal disorders (SR, 2.00 [95% CI, 1.04-1.38]), genetic disorders (SR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.00-1.40]), hematologic disorders (SR, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.06-1.47]), musculoskeletal disorders (SR, 1.18 [95% CI, 1.07-1.30]), mental health disorders (SR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.10-1.30]), and metabolic disorders (SR, 1.42 [95% CI, 1.24-1.61]). Among the 5374 patients with positive test results, 359 (7%) were hospitalized for respiratory, hypotensive, or COVID-19-specific illness. Of these, 99 (28%) required intensive care unit services, and 33 (9%) required mechanical ventilation. The case fatality rate was 0.2% (8 of 5374). The number of patients with a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease in early 2020 was 40% lower (259 vs 433 and 430) than in 2018 or 2019.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this large cohort study of US pediatric patients, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were low, and clinical manifestations were typically mild. Black, Hispanic, and Asian race/ethnicity; adolescence and young adulthood; and nonrespiratory chronic medical conditions were associated with identified infection. Kawasaki disease diagnosis is not an effective proxy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome of childhood.

Learning from electronic health records across multiple sites: A communication-efficient and privacy-preserving distributed algorithm

OBJECTIVES

We propose a one-shot, privacy-preserving distributed algorithm to perform logistic regression (ODAL) across multiple clinical sites.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

ODAL effectively utilizes the information from the local site (where the patient-level data are accessible) and incorporates the first-order (ODAL1) and second-order (ODAL2) gradients of the likelihood function from other sites to construct an estimator without requiring iterative communication across sites or transferring patient-level data. We evaluated ODAL via extensive simulation studies and an application to a dataset from the University of Pennsylvania Health System. The estimation accuracy was evaluated by comparing it with the estimator based on the combined individual participant data or pooled data (ie, gold standard).

RESULTS

Our simulation studies revealed that the relative estimation bias of ODAL1 compared with the pooled estimates was <3%, and the ratio of standard errors was <1.25 for all scenarios. ODAL2 achieved higher accuracy (with relative bias <0.1% and ratio of standard errors <1.05). In real data analysis, we investigated the associations of 100 medications with fetal loss during pregnancy. We found that ODAL1 provided estimates with relative bias <10% for 85% of medications, and ODAL2 has relative bias <10% for 99% of medications. For communication cost, ODAL1 requires transferring p numbers from each site to the local site and ODAL2 requires transferring (p×p+p) numbers from each site to the local site, where p is the number of parameters in the regression model.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that ODAL is privacy-preserving and communication-efficient with small bias and high statistical efficiency.

Development and Validation of the Pediatric Sleep Practices Questionnaire: A Self-Report Measure for Youth Ages 8-17 Years

Objective: To develop and evaluate the validity of a self-report measure of sleep practices for youth 8-17 years. Methods: Following recommended guidelines for the development of patient reported outcomes (PROs), sleep practice concepts were identified through expert (n = 8) and child (n = 28) concept elicitation interviews and a systematic literature review. Items were developed based on these concepts and tested in cognitive interviews with children (n = 32). Psychometric analyses were applied to item response data collected from a diverse sample of youth 8-17 years (n = 307). Construct validity was evaluated through tests of associations between sleep practices and sleep disturbance and sleep-related impairment. Finally, clinical validity of the tool was assessed by comparing scores of youth with and without a parent-identified sleep problem. Results: The final Pediatric Sleep Practices Questionnaire (PSPQ) included 15 items that were used to identify 5 sleep practices: sleep timing, sleep routines and consistency, technology use before bedtime, sleep environment, and the need for parental presence to fall asleep. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized structure (all factor loadings ≥ 0.72) and PSPQ indices were significantly associated with self-reported sleep disturbances and sleep-related impairment. Finally, children with parent-reported sleep problems had shorter sleep opportunity, later bedtimes, greater need for parental presence, poorer bedtime routines, and more technology use than children without parent-reported sleep problems. Conclusions: The PSPQ was developed using best-practice PRO development methodology. The PSPQ can be used in clinical settings and for research assessment to capture modifiable sleep practices that may promote or interfere with healthy sleep.

International consensus on a standard set of outcome measures for child and youth anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder

A major barrier to improving care effectiveness for mental health is a lack of consensus on outcomes measurement. The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) has already developed a consensus-based standard set of outcomes for anxiety and depression in adults (including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale, and the WHO Disability Schedule). This Position Paper reports on recommendations specifically for anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder in children and young people aged between 6 and 24 years. An international ICHOM working group of 27 clinical, research, and lived experience experts formed a consensus through teleconferences, an exercise using an adapted Delphi technique (a method for reaching group consensus), and iterative anonymous voting, supported by sequential research inputs. A systematic scoping review identified 70 possible outcomes and 107 relevant measurement instruments. Measures were appraised for their feasibility in routine practice (ie, brevity, free availability, validation in children and young people, and language translation) and psychometric performance (ie, validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change). The final standard set recommends tracking symptoms, suicidal thoughts and behaviour, and functioning as a minimum through seven primarily patient-reported outcome measures: the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory for Children, the Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale, the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, the KIDSCREEN-10, the Children's Global Assessment Scale, and the Child Anxiety Life Interference Scale. The set's recommendations were validated through a feedback survey involving 487 participants across 45 countries. The set should be used alongside the anxiety and depression standard set for adults with clinicians selecting age-appropriate measures.

Provider Specialty and Receipt of Metabolic Monitoring for Children Taking Antipsychotics

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Metabolic monitoring is important for children taking antipsychotic medication, given the risk for increased BMI, impaired glucose metabolism, and hyperlipidemia. The purpose was to examine the influence of provider specialty on the receipt of metabolic monitoring. Specifically, differences in the receipt of recommended care when a child receives outpatient care from a primary care provider (PCP), a mental health provider with prescribing privileges, or both was examined.

METHODS

Medicaid enrollment and health care and pharmacy claims data from 2 states were used in the analyses. Providers were assigned to specialties by using a crosswalk of the National Provider Identifier numbers to specialty type. A total of 41 078 children were included.

RESULTS

For both states, 61% of children saw ≥1 provider type and had adjusted odds ratios for receiving metabolic monitoring that were significantly higher than those of children seeing PCPs only. For example, children seeing a PCP and a mental health provider with prescribing privileges during the year had adjusted odds of receiving metabolic monitoring that were 42% higher than those seeing a PCP alone (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Shared care arrangements significantly increased the chances that metabolic monitoring would be done. For states, health plans, and clinicians to develop meaningful quality improvement strategies, identifying the multiple providers caring for the children and potentially responsible for ordering tests consistent with evidence-based care is essential. Provider attribution in the context of shared care arrangements plays a critical role in driving quality improvement efforts.

Are there birth cohort effects in disparities in child obesity by maternal education?

BACKGROUND

Children belonging to the same birth cohort (i.e., born in the same year) experience shared exposure to a common obesity-related milieu during the critical early years of development-e.g., secular beliefs and feeding practices, adverse chemical exposures, food access and nutrition assistance policies-that set the stage for a shared trajectory of obesity as they mature. Fundamental cause theory suggests that inequitable distribution of recent efforts to stem the rise in child obesity may exacerbate cohort-based disparities over time.

METHODS

Data were from electronic health records spanning 2007-2016 linked to birth records for children ages 2-19 years. We used hierarchical age-period-cohort models to investigate cohort effects on disparities in obesity related to maternal education. We hypothesized that maternal education-based disparities in prevalence of obesity would be larger among more recent birth cohorts.

RESULTS

Sex-stratified models adjusted for race/ethnicity showed substantial obesity disparities by maternal education that were evident even at young ages: prevalence among children with maternal education < high school compared to maternal college degree was approximately three times as high among girls and twice as high among boys. For maternal education < high school, disparities compared to maternal college degree were higher in more recent birth cohorts. Among girls, this disparity cohort effect was evident at younger ages (at age 4, the disparity increased by 4 [0.1-8] percentage points per 5 birth years), while among boys it was larger at older ages (at age 16, the disparity increased by 7 [1-14] percentage points per 5 birth years).

CONCLUSIONS

There may be widening maternal education-based disparities in child obesity by birth cohort at some ages.

Ambient daily pollen levels in association with asthma exacerbation among children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds can trigger asthma exacerbation in sensitized individuals. However, there are gaps in knowledge about the effects, such as the relative risks from different plant taxa and threshold levels of effect. We aimed to describe the local association between pollen and asthma exacerbation among children in the City of Philadelphia, and to evaluate whether effects are modified by children's characteristics and clinical factors (e.g., child's age, race/ethnicity, comorbidities). We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of pediatric (age <18 years) asthma exacerbation, with cases identified through electronic health records (EHR) of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) health system from March through October in the years 2011-2016. Daily pollen counts were obtained from the local National Allergy Bureau certified pollen counter. We applied conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between the pollen level (vs. none detected) and odds of asthma exacerbation, adjusting for temperature, relative humidity, and holidays. We estimated same-day exposure effects, as well as effects from exposure lagged by up to 5 days. There were 35,040 asthma exacerbation events during the study period, with the majority occurring among black, non-Hispanic children (81.8%) and boys (60.4%). We found increased odds of asthma exacerbation among Philadelphia children in association with tree pollen, both for total tree pollen and most individual tree types. Increased odds from total tree pollen were observed at the lowest levels studied (≤5 grains/m³, unlagged, OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.10), and exhibited a positive exposure-response pattern of effect; tree pollen levels above 1000 grains/m³ (unlagged) were associated with 64% increased odds of asthma exacerbation (95% CI: 1.45, 1.84). Grass pollen was associated with asthma exacerbation only at levels above the 99^th percentile (52 grains/m³), which occurred, on average, two days per year during the study period (with 2-day lag, OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.60). There was an inverse association (reduced asthma exacerbation) with ragweed pollen that was consistent across analyses. Pollen from other weeds was associated with increased odds of asthma exacerbation, without a clear exposure-response pattern (2-day lag, significant increases ranging from 8% to 19%). Increased odds from tree pollen and weeds (other than ragweed) were higher among children with allergic rhinitis. While there are known benefits from urban vegetation for human health, there are risks as well. It is important to note, however, that pollen is released during a limited time frame each year, and advisories informed by local data can enable susceptible individuals to avoid outdoor exposure on high-risk days.

Using nationally representative percentiles to interpret PROMIS pediatric measures

PURPOSE

This study's aim was to use a representative sample of the US pediatric population to estimate percentiles for several PROMIS pediatric measures: Anger, Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Family Relationships, Fatigue, Global Health, Life Satisfaction, Meaning and Purpose, Pain Behavior, Pain Interference, Physical Activity, Physical Function Mobility, Physical Function Upper Extremity, Physical Stress Experiences, Positive Affect, Psychological Stress Experiences, Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Impairment, and Peer Relationships.

METHODS

We used two separate, nationally representative samples of parents and children aged 5-17 years drawn in different years from the GfK Knowledge Panel, a dual-frame online probability panel.

RESULTS

All measures that were developed using a representative sample had a median at or near the expected value of 50. For the other measures, the 50th percentile was often 10 points or more from 50. Several domains had high floors or low ceilings. No domain's percentiles completely corresponded to the percentiles associated with a normal distribution with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10.

CONCLUSIONS

This work allows users to interpret a child's self-reported quality of life relative to children in the US general population. When attempting to evaluate whether a child falls above or below other children in the US, one should use the values presented in this study. In addition, we recommend that users should focus on whether a child's score falls into one of a few broad severity groups rather than on specific percentile scores.

Pragmatic Health Assessment in Early Childhood: The PROMIS® of Developmentally Based Measurement for Pediatric Psychology

OBJECTIVE

To illustrate the integration of developmental considerations into person-reported outcome (PRO) measurement development for application in early childhood pediatric psychology.

METHODS

Combining the state-of-the-science Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) mixed-methods instrument development approach with considerations from developmental measurement science, we developed 12 PROMIS early childhood (PROMIS EC) parent report measures to evaluate common mental, social, and physical health outcomes for ages 1-5. Through this interdisciplinary effort, we identified key considerations for early childhood PROs that enable reliable and valid assessment within the real-world constraints of clinical care settings.

RESULTS

Four key considerations are highlighted as key to this process: (a) Engage diverse content experts to identify meaningful and relevant constructs; (b) Balance salient features for early childhood with lifespan coherence of constructs; (c) Emphasize observable features across the typical/atypical spectrum; and (d) Ensure feasibility and relevancy for clinical and research application. Each consideration is discussed using exemplars from the PROMIS EC measurement development process.

CONCLUSIONS

PROMIS EC provides an illustration of how well-established PRO measures for youth can be adapted for younger children by incorporating developmental considerations. This process and resulting key considerations provide clinicians and researchers in the field of pediatric psychology with guidance for adapting PROs to early childhood, enabling critical continuity in domains of high salience to pediatric psychologists.

Development and evaluation of an EHR-based computable phenotype for identification of pediatric Crohn's disease patients in a National Pediatric Learning Health System

Objectives

To develop and evaluate the classification accuracy of a computable phenotype for pediatric Crohn's disease using electronic health record data from PEDSnet, a large, multi‐institutional research network and Learning Health System.

Study Design

Using clinician and informatician input, algorithms were developed using combinations of diagnostic and medication data drawn from the PEDSnet clinical dataset which is comprised of 5.6 million children from eight U.S. academic children's health systems. Six test algorithms (four cases, two non‐cases) that combined use of specific medications for Crohn's disease plus the presence of Crohn's diagnosis were initially tested against the entire PEDSnet dataset. From these, three were selected for performance assessment using manual chart review (primary case algorithm, n = 360, primary non‐case algorithm, n = 360, and alternative case algorithm, n = 80). Non‐cases were patients having gastrointestinal diagnoses other than inflammatory bowel disease. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were assessed for the primary case and primary non‐case algorithms.

Results

Of the six algorithms tested, the least restrictive algorithm requiring just ≥1 Crohn's diagnosis code yielded 11 950 cases across PEDSnet (prevalence 21/10 000). The most restrictive algorithm requiring ≥3 Crohn's disease diagnoses plus at least one medication yielded 7868 patients (prevalence 14/10 000). The most restrictive algorithm had the highest PPV (95%) and high sensitivity (91%) and specificity (94%). False positives were due primarily to a diagnosis reversal (from Crohn's disease to ulcerative colitis) or having a diagnosis of “indeterminate colitis.” False negatives were rare.

Conclusions

Using diagnosis codes and medications available from PEDSnet, we developed a computable phenotype for pediatric Crohn's disease that had high specificity, sensitivity and predictive value. This process will be of use for developing computable phenotypes for other pediatric diseases, to facilitate cohort identification for retrospective and prospective studies, and to optimize clinical care through the PEDSnet Learning Health System.

PCORnet® 2020: current state, accomplishments, and future directions

OBJECTIVE

To describe PCORnet, a clinical research network developed for patient-centered outcomes research on a national scale.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

Descriptive study of the current state and future directions for PCORnet. We conducted cross-sectional analyses of the health systems and patient populations of the 9 Clinical Research Networks and 2 Health Plan Research Networks that are part of PCORnet.

RESULTS

Within the Clinical Research Networks, electronic health data are currently collected from 337 hospitals, 169,695 physicians, 3,564 primary care practices, 338 emergency departments, and 1,024 community clinics. Patients can be recruited for prospective studies from any of these clinical sites. The Clinical Research Networks have accumulated data from 80 million patients with at least one visit from 2009 to 2018. The PCORnet Health Plan Research Network population of individuals with a valid enrollment segment from 2009 to 2019 exceeds 60 million individuals, who on average have 2.63 years of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

PCORnet's infrastructure comprises clinical data from a diverse cohort of patients and has the capacity to rapidly access these patient populations for pragmatic clinical trials, epidemiological research, and patient-centered research on rare diseases.

Heavy precipitation and asthma exacerbation risk among children: A case-crossover study using electronic health records linked with geospatial data

Extreme precipitation events may be an important environmental trigger for asthma exacerbations in children. We used a time stratified case-crossover design and data from a large electronic health record database at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to estimate associations of daily heavy precipitation (defined as > 95th percentile of the summertime distribution) with asthma exacerbation among children. We defined control days as those falling on the same day of the week within the same month and year as the case. We restricted our primary analyses to the summer months in years 2011-2016 and used conditional logistic regression models to estimate associations between heavy precipitation and acute asthma exacerbations in both outpatient (primary care, specialty care, and emergency department) and inpatient settings. We investigated numerous individual-level (e.g., age, sex, eczema diagnosis) and environmental measures (e.g., greenspace, particulate matter) as potential effect modifiers. The analysis include 13,483 asthma exacerbations in 10,434 children. Odds of asthma exacerbation were 11% higher on heavy precipitation vs. no precipitation days (95% CI: 1.02-1.21). There was little evidence of effect modification by most measures. These results suggest that heavy summertime precipitation events may contribute to asthma exacerbations. Further research using larger datasets from other health systems is needed to confirm these results, and to explore underlying mechanisms.

Clinical validity of the PROMIS pediatric sleep short forms in children receiving treatment for cancer

BACKGROUND

Rates of sleep disturbances vary widely across pediatric cancer studies, partly due to differences in measurement tools. Patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) offers a rigorously developed, well-validated pair of pediatric sleep health instruments needed to advance sleep research and clinical practice in pediatric cancer. The current study evaluated the clinical validity of PROMIS pediatric sleep scales (sleep disturbances [SD] and sleep-related impairment [SRI]) among children in active cancer treatment.

PROCEDURE

Caregiver-patient dyads were enrolled during cancer treatment in 2-12 months after diagnosis: 45 children (ages 8-17 years) and 102 caregivers of children (ages 5-17 years) completed PROMIS SD and SRI 8-item short form self-report or caregiver-proxy scales, and caregivers reported the prior week's cancer treatments and blood counts.

RESULTS

Both scales demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability across reporters. SD and SRI were higher than the PROMIS general population calibration sample for caregivers and patients. Oncology caregivers reported lower SD and SRI than sleep clinic caregivers, but oncology patients were similar to sleep clinic patients. Convergent validity was evidenced through moderate correlations between scales by reporter and both scales being significantly higher in patients taking medications for sleep. There were no significant differences in SD or SRI by diagnostic group, receiving radiation, or having low blood counts.

CONCLUSION

The PROMIS SD and SRI short forms are promising measures for pediatric oncology, demonstrating strong internal consistency reliability and multiple indications of clinical validity. Although groups did not differ based on treatment variables, results suggest the need for universal screening for sleep problems during pediatric cancer treatment.

Better sleep, better life? How sleep quality influences children's life satisfaction

PURPOSE

To assess the association between children's sleep quality and life satisfaction; and to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of this relationship.

METHODS

Three pediatric cohorts in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health (ECHO) Research Program administered Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) parent-proxy measures to caregivers (n = 1111) who reported on their 5- to 9-year-old children's (n = 1251) sleep quality, psychological stress, general health, and life satisfaction; extant sociodemographic data were harmonized across cohorts. Bootstrapped path modeling of individual patient data meta-analysis was used to determine whether and to what extent stress and general health mediate the relationship between children's sleep quality and life satisfaction.

RESULTS

Nonparametric bootstrapped path analyses with 1000 replications suggested children's sleep quality was associated with lower levels of stress and better general health, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of life satisfaction. Family environmental factors (i.e., income and maternal mental health) moderated these relationships.

CONCLUSION

Children who sleep well have happier lives than those with more disturbed sleep. Given the modifiable nature of children's sleep quality, this study offers evidence to inform future interventional studies on specific mechanisms to improve children's well-being.

Development of the PROMIS Pediatric Physical Activity Item Banks

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to develop self-report and parent-proxy measures of children's physical activity for clinical research and practice and to demonstrate a valid and reliable instrument of children's lived experience of physical activity as reported by the children themselves or their parent proxies.

METHODS

This study involved qualitative development of item pools followed by 2 cross-sectional validity and reliability studies. The National Institutes of Health Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) instrument development standards were applied to create child self-report and parent-proxy physical activity instruments from previously developed, content-valid pools of physical activity items. Each item used a 7-day recall period and had 5 response options. Item bank calibration was based on national samples totaling 3033 children aged 8 to 17 years and 2336 parents of children aged 5 to 17 years. Quantitative analyses included reliability assessments, factor analyses, item response theory calibration, differential item functioning, and construct validation.

RESULTS

The final item banks comprised 10 items each. The items were selected based on content and psychometric properties. The item banks appeared to be unidimensional and free from differential item functioning. They showed excellent reliability and a high degree of precision across the range of the latent variable. Child-report and parent-proxy 4- and 8-item fixed-length instruments were specified. The instruments showed moderate correlation with existing self-report measures of physical activity.

CONCLUSION

The PROMIS Pediatric Physical Activity instruments provide precise and valid measurement of children's lived experiences of physical activity.

IMPACT

The availability of the PROMIS Pediatric Physical Activity instruments will support advances in clinical practice and research that require measurement of pediatric physical activity by self- and parent-proxy report.

Development of patient-reported outcome measures of children's oral health aesthetics

OBJECTIVES

To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of child- and parent-proxy measures of oral health aesthetics.

METHODS

Items that describe children's perceptions of their oral attractiveness and its impact on social, emotional, and behavioural functioning were developed based on a systematic review of existing measures, clinician feedback (n = 13) and child semi-structured interviews (n = 27). The tools' content validity was assessed in cognitive interviews with 21 children. Items were administered to socio-demographically diverse samples of 998 children aged 8-17 years and 626 parents of children aged 5-17 years. Psychometric methods were used to finalize and calibrate item banks, generate short questionnaire forms, and evaluate the tools' reliability, precision and validity.

RESULTS

The item banks and their short forms provide precise measurement across a wide range of oral health aesthetic states. They measure relevant and meaningful positive and negative experiences using terminology that most children as young as 8 years of age can understand. Known-group comparisons and convergence with existing measures of oral health-related quality of life, global health and body image provide evidence of construct validity. The scores are interpretable relative to the US general population.

CONCLUSIONS

The oral health aesthetic item banks and short forms provide precise and valid assessments of children's satisfaction with their oral appearance. They may be useful for targeting and evaluating paediatric dental and orthodontic care in clinical practice and research settings.

Priority Rankings of Patient-Reported Outcomes for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Comparison of Patient and Physician Perspectives

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with high symptom burden. However, treatment decisions currently depend heavily on physician interpretation of clinical parameters and may not consider patients’ health preferences. The NIH Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) initiative standardized a set of patient-reported outcomes for use in chronic diseases. This study identifies preference rankings among patients with PDAC and physicians for PROMIS domains and compares the priorities of patients and their providers. Methods: We condensed the 96 NIH PROMIS adult domains into 31 domains and created a Maximum Difference Scaling questionnaire. Domain preference scores were generated from the responses of patients with PDAC and physicians, which were compared using Maximum Difference Scaling software across demographic and clinical variables. Results: Participants included 135 patients with PDAC (53% male; median age, 68 years) and 54 physicians (76% male; median years of experience, 10). Patients selected physical functioning (PF) as their top priority, whereas physicians identified pain as most important. PF, ability to perform activities of daily living, and symptom management were within the top 5 domains for both patients and physicians, and varied only slightly across age, sex, and ethnicity. However, several domains were ranked significantly higher by patients than by physicians, including but not limited to PF; ability to do things for yourself, family, and friends; ability to interact with others to obtain help; and sleep quality. Physicians ranked pain, anxiety, and depression higher than patients did. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with PDAC value PF and engaging in daily and social activities the most, whereas physicians prioritize symptoms such as pain. Patient-reported outcomes need to become more integrated into PDAC care and research to better identify unmet patient needs, inform treatment decisions, and develop therapies that address outcomes valued by patients.

Primary Care Accessibility Effects on Health Care Utilization Among Urban Children

OBJECTIVE

Evidence suggests that spatial accessibility to primary care is a contributing factor to appropriate health care utilization, with limited primary care access resulting in avoidable hospitalizations and emergency department visits which are burdensome on individuals and our health care system. Limited research, however, has examined the effects on children.

METHODS

We evaluated associations of spatial accessibility to primary care on health care utilization among a sample of 16,709 children aged 0 to 3 years in Philadelphia who were primarily non-White and publicly insured. Log-Poisson models with generalized estimating equations were used to estimate incidence rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), while accounting for 3 levels of clustering (within individual, within primary care practice, within neighborhood).

RESULTS

In age-adjusted models, the lowest level of spatial accessibility was associated with 7% fewer primary care visits (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.91, 0.95), 15% more emergency department visits (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.09, 1.22), and 18% more avoidable hospitalizations (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01, 1.37). After adjustment for individual- (race/ethnicity, sex, number of chronic conditions, insurance status) and neighborhood-level (racial composition and proportion of housing units with no vehicle), spatial accessibility was not significantly associated with rate of health care utilization.

CONCLUSIONS

Individual-level predisposing factors, such as age, race, and need, attenuate the association between accessibility to primary care and use of primary care, emergency department visits, and avoidable hospitalization. Given the possibility of modifying access to primary care unlike immutable individual factors, a focus on spatial accessibility to primary care may promote appropriate health care utilization.