Lactation Patterns in Women with Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: An Analysis of Illinois 2012–2015 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Data

Maternal and Child Health Journal - Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy have lifelong implications on maternal cardiovascular health. Breastfeeding has a variety of maternal benefits, including...     

Building a Methodological Foundation for Impactful Urban Planetary Health Science

Anthropogenic environmental change will heavily impact cities, yet associated health risks will depend significantly on decisions made by urban leaders across a wide range of non-health sectors, including transport, energy, housing, basic urban services, and others. A subset of planetary health researchers focus on understanding the urban health impacts of global environmental change, and how these vary globally and within cities. Such researchers increasingly adopt collaborative transdisciplinary approaches to engage policy-makers, private citizens, and other actors in identifying and evaluating potential policy solutions that will reduce environmental impacts in ways that simultaneously promote health, equity, and/or local economies—in other words, maximising ‘co-benefits’. This report presents observations from a participatory workshop focused on challenges and opportunities for urban planetary health research. The workshop, held at the 16th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Xiamen, China, in November 2019, brought together 49 participants and covered topics related to collaboration, data, and research impact. It featured research projects funded by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health (OPOH) programme. This report aims to concisely summarise and disseminate participants’ collective contributions to current methodological practice in urban planetary health research.     

Effects of the Family Check-Up 4 Health on Parenting and Child Behavioral Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Primary Care

The Family Check-Up 4 Health (FCU4Health) is an adaptation of the Family Check-Up (FCU) for delivery in primary care settings. While maintaining the original FCU’s focus on parenting and child behavioral health, we added content targeting health behaviors. This study evaluated whether the adapted FCU maintained positive effects on parenting (positive behavior support, limit setting, parental warmth) and child behavioral health (self-regulation, conduct problems, emotional problems). Pediatric (6–12 years) primary care patients with a BMI?≥?85^th%ile (n?=?240) were recruited from primary care clinics in Phoenix. Children were 75% Latino, 49% female, and 73% Medicaid recipients. This type 2 effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial compared families randomized to FCU4Health (n?=?141) or usual care (n?=?99). FCU4Health was delivered over a period of 6 months. This study focuses on a priori secondary outcomes included parenting and child behavioral health targets of the original FCU, assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months. Significant improvements were found for the FCU4Health condition, compared to usual care, in parenting from baseline to the 3-month assessment [β?=?.17 (.01; .32)]. Parenting predicted improvements in child self-regulation at 6-months [β?=?.17 (.03; .30)], which in turn predicted reductions in conduct problems [β?=?? .38 (? .51; ? .23)] and emotional problems [β?=?? .24 (? .38; ? .09)] at 12 months. Ethnicity and language of delivery (English or Spanish) did not moderate these effects. The FCU4Health can improve parenting and child behavioral health outcomes when delivered in primary care.

Trial Registration Trial registration number: NCT03013309 ClinicalTrials.gov

     

Predictors of Caregiver Participation in an Engagement Strategy to Increase Initiation into a Family-Based Preventive Intervention

Previous studies have shown that engagement strategies can help increase enrollment and initiation of families in evidence-based preventive programs under natural service delivery settings. However, little is known about factors that predict completion of these engagement strategies. This study aimed to examine predictors (i.e., perceived need, perceived barriers, and sociocultural context) of caregiver participation in an evidence-based engagement call strategy. This call was expected to increase initiation into a school-based, family-focused prevention program. In addition, this study examined engagement call completion as a predictor of program initiation among already enrolled families. Participants included ethnically diverse families recruited from three Title I schools (n = 413) who were randomized to receive the prevention program. Results showed that interparental conflict—an indicator of perceived need—was associated with an increased likelihood of completing the engagement call. Furthermore, caregivers from low-socioeconomic status (SES), foreign-born, Spanish-speaking, Hispanic families were more likely to complete the call relative to those from low- and mid-SES, US born, English-speaking, ethnically diverse families. Importantly, engagement call completion was associated with an increased likelihood of program initiation. These findings provide limited support that families with higher perceived needs are more likely to participate in an evidence-based engagement call strategy. Results suggested that the call strategy provides a promising way to reduce attrition from family prevention programs, which is commonly observed between enrollment and initiation. Project Number: R01 DA035855; Date of Registration: 06/15/2014.

     

Evaluating the Impact of a Youth-Led Sexual Violence Prevention Program: Youth Leadership Retreat Outcomes

Prevention Science - Involving youth in developing and implementing prevention programs to reduce sexual violence (SV) has the potential to improve prevention outcomes. However, there has been...     

Mediation Analysis of a Theory-Based Culture and Age-Appropriate HIV/STI Prevention

Few studies have investigated mediator effects of HIV prevention interventions on adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Herein, we report on a secondary analysis of an intervention that increased intentions to use condoms, abstain from sexual intercourse, and seek safe male circumcision among adolescents in Botswana. In a study conducted in Botswana, 806 grade 9 students from 21 public Junior Secondary Schools were randomly assigned to either the OWN THE FUTURE: Pulling Together We Will” ( PTWW) intervention group or a health promotion control group. Both conditions consisted of 12 1-h modules, with two modules delivered during each of the six sessions on six consecutive school days. The students in both groups completed confidential computer-based surveys at several time points: pre-, immediately post-, 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. Mediation was assessed using the product-of-coefficients approach in a generalized estimating equations (GEE) framework. The analyses showed that condom use beliefs were significant mediators of the intervention effect on the intention to consistently use condoms over time. Also, negative socio-cultural beliefs, prevention beliefs, and HIV/STI knowledge were significant mediators of the intervention’s effects on the intention to abstain from sex. Additionally, normative beliefs, prevention beliefs, parental negotiation, and circumcision knowledge were significant mediators of the intervention’s effect on intention to seek safe male circumcision. The mediation analysis delineated a theoretical model and isolated activities that positively impact condom use, abstinence from sex, and circumcision intentions of Batswana middle school adolescents.

     

Treatment of infants with ureteropelvic junction obstruction: findings from the PURSUIT network

International Urology and Nephrology - Studies based on administrative databases show that infant pyeloplasty is associated with minority race/ethnicity but lack clinical data that may influence...     

A review of burn symptoms and potential novel neural targets for non-invasive brain stimulation for treatment of burn sequelae

Burn survivors experience myriad associated symptoms such as pain, pruritus, fatigue, impaired motor strength, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. Many of these symptoms are common and remain chronic, despite current standard of care. One potential novel intervention to target these post burn symptoms is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS is a non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique that modulates neural excitability of a specific target or neural network. The aim of this work is to review the neural circuits of the aforementioned clinical sequelae associated with burn injuries and to provide a scientific rationale for specific NIBS targets that can potentially treat these conditions. We ran a systematic review, following the PRISMA statement, of tDCS effects on burn symptoms. Only three studies matched our criteria. One was a feasibility study assessing cortical plasticity in chronic neuropathic pain following burn injury, one looked at the effects of tDCS to reduce pain anxiety during burn wound care, and one assessed the effects of tDCS to manage pain and pruritus in burn survivors. Current literature on NIBS in burn remains limited, only a few trials have been conducted. Based on our review and results in other populations suffering from similar symptoms as patients with burn injuries, three main areas were selected: the prefrontal region, the parietal area and the motor cortex. Based on the importance of the prefrontal cortex in the emotional component of pain and its implication in various psychosocial symptoms, targeting this region may represent the most promising target. Our review of the neural circuitry involved in post burn symptoms and suggested targeted areas for stimulation provide a spring board for future study initiatives.     

Variation in acute fluid resuscitation among pediatric burn centers

BackgroundAccurate resuscitation of pediatric patients with large thermal injury is critical to achieving optimal outcomes. The goal of this project was to describe the degree of variability in resuscitation guidelines among pediatric burn centers and the impact on fluid estimates.MethodsFive pediatric burn centers in the Pediatric Injury Quality Improvement Collaborative (PIQIC) contributed data from patients with ≥15% total body surface area (TBSA) burns treated from 2014 to 2018. Each center's resuscitation guidelines and guidelines from the American Burn Association were used to calculate estimated 24-h fluid requirements and compare these values to the actual fluid received.ResultsDifferences in the TBSA burn at which fluid resuscitation was initiated, coefficients related to the Parkland formula, criteria to initiate dextrose containing fluids, and urine output goals were observed. Three of the five centers’ resuscitation guidelines produced statistically significant lower mean fluid estimates when compared with the actual mean fluid received for all patients across centers (4.53 versus 6.35 ml/kg/% TBSA, p < 0.001), (4.90 versus 6.35 ml/kg/TBSA, p = 0.002) and (3.38 versus 6.35 ml/kg/TBSA, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsThis variation in practice patterns led to statistically significant differences in fluid estimates. One center chose to modify its resuscitation guidelines at the conclusion of this study.