HOW CAN NEW TECHNOLOGIES HELP REDUCE ABSENTEEISM IN PEDIATRIC CONSULTATION?

Objective:

To identify the most effective form of contact, as a possible intervention to reduce absenteeism in consultations of children with suspected or confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis.

Methods:

A randomized clinical trial was conducted with prospective data collection, between March 2017 and February 2018. Patients were randomized into three groups to be reminded about the appointment: telephone contact, SMS or WhatsApp, or no intervention. A convenience sample was obtained, with a significance level of 5%.

Results:

78 children were included, with a median age of four years old (zero to 14); 59.0% of them were in treatment for a latent infection and 6.4% had active tuberculosis. Among the 78 children, 74.4% lived in Curitiba (Sourhern Brazil); 62.8% lived with both parents; 38.5% of the parents had formal employment and 47.4% of the mothers were housewives; 50.8% of the fathers and 55.7% of the mothers had more than nine years of schooling. In 78.2% of the families, per capita income was up to 0.5 minimum wages; 27.3% were enrolled in social programs; 28.2% lived in homes provided by the government. There was a total of 238 interventions made: 85 (35.7%) by telephone contact, 78 (32.8%) by text message (WhatsApp was 97.2% of these) and 75 (31.5%) had no further contact. There was no statistical difference among the sociodemographic and cultural characteristics studied. The absenteeism rate was 24.0% and the abandonment rate was 16.7%. Giving a reminder to the patient’s guardian prior to the consultation, regardless of the intervention (p=0.021) and specifically by WhatsApp message (p=0.032) was associated with no absenteeism, though it was not associated with abandonment of the treatment.

Conclusions:

Using new tools, such as WhatsApp, to remind guardians of appointments reduces absenteeism. Consequently, it may lead to a reduction in abandoning treatment and it may improvetreatment outcome of children with a tuberculosis infection or disease.

Developmental milestones of vertically HIV infected and seroreverters children: follow up of 83 children

The aim of the study was to detect neurological abnormalities in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected children. This was achieved by a prospective evaluation, from November/1995 to April/2000, of 43 HIV infected children (group I) and 40 HIV seroreverters children (group II) through neurological exam and neurodevelopmental tests: Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and Clinical Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CAT/CLAMS). A control group (III), of 67 children, were evaluated by CAT/CLAMS. Hyperactivity, irritability and hypotonia were the findings on neurological examination, without statistical differences between group I and II. On CAT/CLAMS, the group I developmental quotient (DQ) was significantly lower than the other groups. The same occurred in DDST, with group I presenting significantly more failures than group II. Nineteen HIV children of group I had brain computed tomographic scan, with abnormalities in three of them (basal ganglia calcification, white matter hypodensity and asymmetry of lateral ventricles). We conclude that in HIV infected children a neurodevelopment delay occur early in the disease, and it can be detected by screening tests.

[Cerebral arterial aneurysm in a child with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: case report]

Cerebral aneurysmal arteriopathy of the circle of Willis is an uncommon manifestation of acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and up to now only 15 cases have been published in the literature. For this reason we add our experience of this rare case, and review the most important aspects related to this entity. The patient is a 6 year old male with perinatal transmitted AIDS, tetraparethic, developed symptoms characterized by episodes of dystonic postures. The computed tomography of the brain showed aneurismal arteriopathy of the circle of Willis. He had a previous normal examination. The review of the literature shows the pathological abnormalities of the affected vessels are mainly medial fibrosis, with destruction of the internal elastic lamina and intimal hyperplasia. The etiology for the vasculitis is unknown. Varicela zoster virus, as well as HIV by itself, can be related to the physiopathology of the vasculitis. On conclusion, it can be said that although uncommon, such complications are of great importance by the fact that the patients with vascular aneurismal arteriopathy are in high risk for vascular accidents, and once a diagnosis was made, death occurs in less than 6 months, according to the literature.