Pediatrics
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The number of children in foster care in California doubled from 27,534 in 1980 to more than 62,419 in 1988, representing approximately 1% of the child population in the state. Past studies have demonstrated that children in foster care have high rates of medical and mental health problems. ⋯ Although children in foster care represent 4% of Medi-Cal-eligible children younger than 18 years of age, they account for approximately 5% of children using Medi-Cal services and 6.7% of expenditures, representing a 23% greater utilization rate and 41% greater expenditure rate than all children covered by Medi-Cal. Using the entire Medi-Cal population younger than 18 years of age as comparison group, examination of inpatient and outpatient service utilization for specific condition categories showed few differences between children in foster care and the comparison group except for mental health service utilization, where children in foster care were much higher users of services.
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Decreasing chronic joint pain is a major goal in the management of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Cognitive-behavioral self-regulatory techniques were taught to children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis to reduce musculoskeletal pain intensity and to facilitate better adaptive functioning. Subjects were 13 children between the ages of 4.5 and 16.9 years who had pauciarticular or systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. ⋯ Results indicated that these techniques led to substantial reduction of pain intensity, which generalized to outside the clinic setting. Six- and 12-month follow-up data showed consistent decreases in pain as well as improved adaptive functioning. The data suggest that cognitive-behavioral interventions for pain are an effective adjunct to standard pharmacologic interventions for pain in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Standardized instructions: do they improve communication of discharge information from the emergency department?
To determine whether standardized instructions enhance communication of discharge information, we provided 197 parents of children in whom otitis media was diagnosed with one of three types of instruction at the time of discharge from a pediatric emergency department: (1) instruction by individual housestaff and medical students after consultation with an attending physician (control group); (2) standardized verbal instructions given by housestaff and students trained in their use (verbal group); or (3) the same instructions given to the verbal group, together with a type-written copy of the information to take home (verbal + written group). Prior to leaving the emergency department and, again, by phone, 1 and 3 days later, parents were questioned concerning the prescribed medication's name, dose, frequency, and duration of administration (medication data), three signs of improvement, and eight signs indicating the need for medical advice (worrisome signs). ⋯ Information regarding medication data was more likely to be communicated to parents in all groups than were signs of improvement or worrisome signs. The addition of written instructions to standardized verbal instructions did not improve parental recall of discharge information.
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Comparative Study
Respiratory health and lung function in 8-year-old children of very low birth weight: a cohort study.
In comparison with a cohort of normal birth weight children, those of very low birth weight (less than 1501 g birth weight) had more wheezing illnesses and hospital readmissions for respiratory problems in the first 2 years of life; from 2 years to 8 years of age respiratory health was unrelated to birth weight. Lung function measurements at 8 years of age in very low birth weight children were similar to expected values; few children had severely abnormal lung function. On univariate analyses, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1), but not flow rates, were lower in children who had survived bronchopulmonary dysplasia. ⋯ Flow rates were largely uninfluenced by perinatal events, but were reduced in children with asthma or recurrent bronchitis at 8 years of age. Passive smoking was unrelated to lung function at 8 years of age. However, the effects of passive or active smoking, or perinatal events, on respiratory function or health beyond 8 years of age in very low birth weight survivors remain to be determined.