Comparing routine inpatient data and death records as a means of identifying children and young people with life limiting conditions

Background Recent estimates of the number of children and young people with life limiting conditions derived from routine inpatient data are higher than earlier estimates using death record data. Aim To compare routine inpatient data and death records as means of identifying life limiting conditions in children and young people. Design Two national cohorts of children and young people with a life limiting condition (primary cohort from England with a comparator cohort from Scotland) were identified using linked routinely collected healthcare and administrative data. Participants 37563 children and young people with a life limiting condition in England who died between 1 April 2001 and 30 March 2015 and 2249 children and young people with a life limiting condition in Scotland who died between 1 April 2003 and 30 March 2014. Results In England, 16642 (57%) non-neonatal cohort members had a life limiting condition recorded as the underlying cause of death; 3364 (12%) had a life limiting condition -related condition recorded as the underlying cause and 3435 (12%) had life limiting conditions recorded only among contributing causes. 5651 (19%) non-neonates and 3443 (41%) neonates had no indication of a life limiting condition recorded in their death records. Similar results were seen in Scotland (overall, 16% had no indication of life limiting conditions). In both cohorts, the recording of life limiting condition was highest amongst those with haematology or oncology diagnoses and lowest for genitourinary and gastrointestinal diagnoses

Factores asociados con la calidad del prenatal: un abordaje al nacimiento prematuro

OBJECTIVETo assess the quality of prenatal care in mothers with premature and term births and identify maternal and gestational factors associated with inadequate prenatal care.METHODCross-sectional study collecting data with the pregnant card, hospital records and interviews with mothers living in Maringa-PR. Data were collected from 576 mothers and their born alive infants who were attended in the public service from October 2013 to February 2014, using three different evaluation criteria. The association of prenatal care quality with prematurity was performed by univariate analysis and occurred only at Kessner criteria (CI=1.79;8.02).RESULTSThe indicators that contributed most to the inadequacy of prenatal care were tests of hemoglobin, urine, and fetal presentation. After logistic regression analysis, maternal and gestational variables associated to inadequate prenatal care were combined prenatal (CI=2.93;11.09), non-white skin color (CI=1.11;2.51); unplanned pregnancy (CI=1.34;3.17) and multiparity (CI=1.17;4.03).CONCLUSIONPrenatal care must follow the minimum recommended protocols, more attention is required to black and brown women, multiparous and with unplanned pregnancies to prevent preterm birth and maternal and child morbimortality.OBJETIVOEvaluar la calidad del cuidado prenatal a las mujeres en el puerperio que tuvieron hijos prematuros y a término e identificar los factores maternos de la gestación asociados con el prenatal inadecuado.MÉTODOEstudio transversal con recogida de datos de la tarjeta de la gestante, ficha hospitalaria y entrevista con mujeres en el puerperio del municipio de Maringá, Estado de Paraná. Fueron recogidos datos de 576 mujeres en el puerperio y sus hijos nacidos vivos atendidos en el servicio público en el período de octubre de 2013 a febrero de 2014, utilizándose tres criterios distintos de evaluación. La asociación de la calidad del prenatal con la prematuridad fue llevada a cabo mediante análisis univariado y ocurrió solo con el criterio de Kessner (IC=1,79;8,02).RESULTADOSLos indicadores que más contribuyeron para la inadecuación del prenatal fueron los exámenes de hemoglobina, orina y presentación fetal. Después del análisis de regresión logístico, las variables maternas y de la gestación que se asociaron con el prenatal inadecuado fueron la realización de prenatal mixto (IC=2,93;11,09), color de la piel no blanco (IC=1,11;2,51), gestación no planificada (IC=1,34;3,17) y multiparidad (IC=1,17;4,03).CONCLUSIÓNEl cuidado prenatal debe seguir los protocolos mínimos preconizados, con mayor atención a las mujeres negras y oscuras, multíparas y con gestaciones no planificadas, para prevenir prematuridad y morbimortalidad materna e infantil.OBJETIVOAvaliar a qualidade do cuidado pré-natal em puérperas com nascimentos prematuros e a termo e identificar os fatores maternos e da gestação associados ao pré-natal inadequado.MÉTODOEstudo transversal com coleta de dados do cartão da gestante, prontuário hospitalar e entrevista com puérperas residentes no município de Maringá-PR. Foram coletados dados de 576 puérperas e seus filhos nascidos vivos atendidos no serviço público no período de outubro de 2013 a fevereiro de 2014, utilizando três critérios distintos de avaliação. A associação da qualidade do pré-natal com prematuridade foi realizada por análise univariada e ocorreu apenas com o critério de Kessner (IC=1,79;8,02).RESULTADOSOs indicadores que mais contribuíram para a inadequação do pré-natal foram exames de hemoglobina, urina e apresentação fetal. Após análise de regressão logística, as variáveis maternas e da gestação que se associaram ao pré-natal inadequado foram a realização de pré-natal misto (IC=2,93;11,09), cor da pele não branca (IC=1,11;2,51); gestação não planejada (IC=1,34;3,17) e multiparidade (IC=1,17;4,03).CONCLUSÃOO cuidado pré-natal deve seguir os protocolos mínimos preconizados, com maior atenção a mulheres negras e pardas, multíparas e com gestações não planejadas, para prevenir prematuridade e morbimortalidade materna e infantil

Mortalidade neonatal: descrição e efeito do hospital de nascimento após ajuste de risco

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o efeito de hospital de nascimento na ocorrência de mortalidade neonatal. MÉTODOS: Uma coorte de nascimentos foi iniciada em Pelotas, em 2004. Todos os nascimentos hospitalares foram estudados em visitas diárias às maternidades da cidade, incluindo-se 4.558 recém-nascidos. As mães foram entrevistadas sobre fatores de risco em potencial e as mortes, monitoradas com visitas regulares aos hospitais, cemitérios e cartórios. Dois pediatras classificaram a causa básica da morte, de forma independente, a partir de informações obtidas no prontuário hospitalar e em entrevista com a família. Usou-se regressão logística para estimar o efeito do hospital de nascimento, controlando para variáveis de confusão relacionadas a características maternas e do recém-nascido. RESULTADOS: A taxa de mortalidade neonatal foi de 12,7. O risco esteve fortemente influenciado pelo peso ao nascer, idade gestacional e variáveis socioeconômicas. Imaturidade foi responsável por 65% das mortes neonatais, seguida por anomalias congênitas, infecções e asfixia intraparto. Ajustando para características maternas, foi observado um risco relativo igual a três para hospitais de mesmo nível de complexidade. O risco relativo diminuiu, mas persistiu, após controle para características do recém-nascido. CONCLUSÕES: A mortalidade neonatal variou entre hospitais e foi alta, principalmente relacionada à imaturidade. Para entender a fonte de variação da mortalidade neonatal e reduzir sua ocorrência é necessária uma avaliação aprofundada e comparativas com as práticas de cuidado entre hospitais.OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of hospital of birth on neonatal mortality. METHODS: A birth cohort study was carried out in Pelotas, Southern Brazil, in 2004. All hospital births were assessed by daily visits to all maternity hospitals and 4558 deliveries were included in the study. Mothers were interviewed regarding potential risk factors. Deaths were monitored through regular visits to hospitals, cemeteries and register offices. Two independent pediatricians established the underlying cause of death based on information obtained from medical records and home visits to parents. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of hospital of birth, controlling for confounders related to maternal and newborn characteristics, according to a conceptual model. RESULTS: Neonatal mortality rate was 12.7 and it was highly influenced by birthweight, gestational age, and socioeconomic variables. Immaturity was responsible for 65% of neonatal deaths, followed by congenital anomalies, infections and intrapartum asphyxia. Adjusting for maternal characteristics, a three-fold increase in neonatal mortality was seen between similar complexity hospitals. The effect of hospital remained, though lower, after controlling for newborn characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal mortality was high, mainly related to immaturity, and varied significantly across maternity hospitals. Further investigations comparing delivery care practices across hospitals are needed to better understand NMR variation and to develop strategies for neonatal mortality reduction

Maternal Characteristics and the Risk of Cleft Lip and Palate in the United States

Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CLP) is an ongoing public health issue across the globe, and in the United States. The estimated number of babies born each year in the United States with cleft palate (CP) is about 2,650, while CLP affects approximately 4,440 babies. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to determine if there is a relationship between CLP and maternal characteristics such as reproductive history (advanced maternal age, maternal obesity, prenatal visits, month prenatal care began, number of pregnancies, gestational age at birth, assisted reproductive technology used, gestational diabetes, and hypertension), socioeconomic status of the mother (marital status, education, mother\u27s race, payment source for delivery, and place where birth occurred), and admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in U.S. hospitals from January 2016 to December 2016. The epidemiological triad theory served as the study\u27s framework. A secondary dataset from the National Vital Statistics System was used for this study. Logistic regression was used to test the hypothesized associations. Results indicated that many maternal characteristics such as mother\u27s age (p = .000), maternal obesity (p = .020), number of prenatal visits (p = .001), total birth order (p = .001), gestational age at birth (p = .000), gestational diabetes (p = .002), and gestational hypertension (p = .032), mother\u27s education (p = .000), marital status (p = .018), race (p = .000), and admission to NICU (p = .000) were significantly associated with CLP. Results of this study may help health care professionals identify the determinants of the risk of CLP so as to design and implement effective CLP preventive measures among United States populations that are disproportionately affected by this condition

Neonatal mortality in NHS maternity units by timing and mode of birth: a retrospective linked cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To compare neonatal mortality in English hospitals by time of day and day of the week according to care pathway. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort linking birth registration, birth notification and hospital episode data. SETTING: National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England. PARTICIPANTS: 6 054 536 liveborn singleton births from 2005 to 2014 in NHS maternity units in England. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neonatal mortality. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, there was no significant difference in the odds of neonatal mortality attributed to asphyxia, anoxia or trauma outside of working hours compared with working hours for spontaneous births or instrumental births. Stratification of emergency caesareans by onset of labour showed no difference in mortality by birth timing for emergency caesareans with spontaneous or induced onset of labour. Higher odds of neonatal mortality attributed to asphyxia, anoxia or trauma out of hours for emergency caesareans without labour translated to a small absolute difference in mortality risk. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent 'weekend effect' may result from deaths among the relatively small numbers of babies who were coded as born by emergency caesarean section without labour outside normal working hours. Further research should investigate the potential contribution of care-seeking and community-based factors as well as the adequacy of staffing for managing these relatively unusual emergencies

2017 EIS Conference

"I think many of you will appreciate that this year\ue2\u20ac\u2122s conference theme is, Science That Makes a Difference: Anticipating the, \ue2\u20ac\u153So What?\ue2\u20ac? CDC takes pride in its pledge to use the highest quality scientific data to directly inform decisions to protect our communities. With this theme in mind, we welcome you to continually challenge the EIS presentations this year with your practical questions of \ue2\u20ac\u153So what?\ue2\u20ac? As an EIS community, your comments help our officers think in actionable, impactful, and policy-relevant ways. I also urge you to review our annual EIS update, which highlights more examples of how the work of our EIS officers makes an impact and is critical to generating key actions that protect health and save lives."Publication date from document properties.eis-conference-2017.pd

Design and Evaluation of User-Centered Explanations for Machine Learning Model Predictions in Healthcare

Challenges in interpreting some high-performing models present complications in applying machine learning (ML) techniques to healthcare problems. Recently, there has been rapid growth in research on model interpretability; however, approaches to explaining complex ML models are rarely informed by end-user needs and user evaluations of model interpretability are lacking, especially in healthcare. This makes it challenging to determine what explanation approaches might enable providers to understand model predictions in a comprehensible and useful way. Therefore, I aimed to utilize clinician perspectives to inform the design of explanations for ML-based prediction tools and improve the adoption of these systems in practice. In this dissertation, I proposed a new theoretical framework for designing user-centered explanations for ML-based systems. I then utilized the framework to propose explanation designs for predictions from a pediatric in-hospital mortality risk model. I conducted focus groups with healthcare providers to obtain feedback on the proposed designs, which was used to inform the design of a user-centered explanation. The user-centered explanation was evaluated in a laboratory study to assess its effect on healthcare provider perceptions of the model and decision-making processes. The results demonstrated that the user-centered explanation design improved provider perceptions of utilizing the predictive model in practice, but exhibited no significant effect on provider accuracy, confidence, or efficiency in making decisions. Limitations of the evaluation study design, including a small sample size, may have affected the ability to detect an impact on decision-making. Nonetheless, the predictive model with the user-centered explanation was positively received by healthcare providers, and demonstrated a viable approach to explaining ML model predictions in healthcare. Future work is required to address the limitations of this study and further explore the potential benefits of user-centered explanation designs for predictive models in healthcare. This work contributes a new theoretical framework for user-centered explanation design for ML-based systems that is generalizable outside the domain of healthcare. Moreover, the work provides meaningful insights into the role of model interpretability and explanation in healthcare while advancing the discussion on how to effectively communicate ML model information to healthcare providers

Determinants of Usage of Age-Appropriate Child Safety Seats in Connecticut

In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death and disability for children ages 1\u2715 years. Despite local, state, and federal legislative and educational efforts, children continue to be restrained improperly and thus face harm. Identifying behaviors and barriers that place child occupants at risk is crucial for implementing focused, injury-prevention programs and policies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Connecticut\u27s child passenger safety law that was strengthened in 2005. This study involved a multifactorial approach to predicting child seat use, guided by Roger\u27s diffusion of innovations as the theoretical framework. The analysis determined if there was a difference in the prevalence of car seat use before as compared to after law implementation and identified variables that best predicted the use of car seats and premature transition to a seat belt. Using Connecticut\u27s Crash Data Repository, a logistic regression analysis indicated that car seat use was 1.3 times more likely post law (OR 0.75; 95% CI: 0.65-0.86) and that in particular, children ages 4, 5, and 6 (combined) were most positively affected by the law (OR 0.67; 95% CI 0.54-0.82). Driver sex, crash time of day, child age, and child seating position were all determined to be significant predictors of whether or not a child was in a child safety seat. Additionally, these variables were also determined to be predictors of early transition to use of a lap/shoulder belt (versus child seat). The social change implication of this study is that identifying predictors of car seat use and early transition helps to formulate and implement injury prevention measures that could in turn help to decrease medical costs, save lives, and prevent injuries

The Demographic Links Between the 1890 and 1918 Influenza Pandemics in Ontario

Previous research has shown larger than expected numbers of deaths at the age of 28 during the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic in Canada. To analyze whether this was related to the Russian influenza pandemic that occurred 28 years previously in 1890, the Western, McMaster, Montreal Influenza Pandemic (WMMIP) database was created. It utilizes the death records of 3,316 individuals who died in Ontario between the ages of 23 and 35 from September to December, 1918, and who were also born in Ontario. These were linked to birth records, the 1901 and 1911 Canadian censuses, marriage records, and attestation papers. A reconstructed date of birth was created for each individual to analyze date of potential exposure in 1890. Those who were in utero in 1890 died in greater numbers than would be expected and those in the first trimester of gestation had an unusual sex-ratio at death. Of the various hypotheses proposed to account for the high young adult mortality, these data most closely support that of antigenic imprinting. There is cautious support for the fetal growth restrictions hypothesis, but these data do not support the scarring mechanism. Further, these data do not support the hypothesized relationship between tuberculosis infection and influenza mortality. More individuals left agricultural homes of origin among the decedents than among the Ontario population in general. There were proportionally more French Canadians, more catholic individuals, and more people from Eastern Ontario. The decedents also came from larger families than were found in the general population, although this may be an artifact of the records linkage process. This research shows that the mortality pattern in Ontario during the pandemic was similar to what it was prior to the epidemic: mortality continued along the fault lines in society and did not equalize risk in a “democratic” manner. The extant records are appropriate for historical demographic analyses and the strength and weaknesses for each are detailed. As expected, individuals from the north, who were aboriginal, from smaller families, or in transient occupations were harder to link

Verifying causes of death in Thailand: rationale and methods for empirical investigation

Background: Cause-specific mortality statistics by age and sex are primary evidence for epidemiological research and health policy. Annual mortality statistics from vital registration systems in Thailand are of limited utility because about 40% of deaths are registered with unknown or nonspecific causes. This paper reports the rationale, methods, and broad results from a comprehensive study to verify registered causes in Thailand.Methods: A nationally representative sample of 11,984 deaths was selected using a multistage stratified cluster sampling approach, distributed across 28 districts located in nine provinces of Thailand. Registered causes were verified through medical record review for deaths in hospitals and standard verbal autopsy procedures for deaths outside hospitals, the results of which were used to measure validity and reliability of registration data. Study findings were used to develop descriptive estimates of cause-specific mortality by age and sex in Thailand.Results: Causes of death were verified for a total of 9,644 deaths in the study sample, comprised of 3,316 deaths in hospitals and 6,328 deaths outside hospitals. Field studies yielded specific diagnoses in almost all deaths in the sample originally assigned an ill-defined cause of death at registration. Study findings suggest that the leading causes of death in Thailand among males are stroke (9.4%); transport accidents (8.1%); HIV/AIDS (7.9%); ischemic heart diseases (6.4%); and chronic obstructive lung diseases (5.7%). Among females, the leading causes are stroke (11.3%); diabetes (8%); ischemic heart disease (7.5%); HIV/AIDS (5.7%); and renal diseases (4%).Conclusions: Empirical investigation of registered causes of death in the study sample yielded adequate information to enable estimation of cause-specific mortality patterns in Thailand. These findings will inform burden of disease estimation and economic evaluation of health policy choices in the country. The development and implementation of research methods in this study will contribute to improvements in the quality of annual mortality statistics in Thailand. Similar research is recommended for other countries where the quality of mortality statistics is poor