Chlamydia trachomatis Infections: Implications for Pregnant Adolescents and Their Infants

Objective: Chlamydia trachomatis infections are common in pregnant adolescents. Previous studies have shown that treating pregnant women of all ages with erythromycin prevents transmission of this infection to their infants. However, there are no published studies on the efficacy of aggressive screening and treatment of C. trachomatis in pregnant adolescents. This study was undertaken to determine if aggressive screening for C. trachomatis in pregnant adolescents and early treatment with erythromycin can prevent complications in their newborn infants

Evaluation of an Intimate Partner Violence Curriculum in a Pediatric Hospital

OBJECTIVE. Intimate partner violence harms victims as well as families and communities. Many barriers account for limited intimate partner violence screening by nurses. The purpose of this study was to measure how participation in a curriculum about screening parents for intimate partner violence, at a pediatric hospital, affects a nurse\u27s knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and self-efficacy for intimate partner violence screening. METHODS. In this interventional, longitudinal study, data were collected before participation in an intimate partner violence screening curriculum, after participation, and 3 months later. The measurement tool was adapted from Maiuro\u27s (2000) Self-efficacy for Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Questionnaire. RESULTS. Sixty-eight pediatric nurses completed all aspects of the study. At baseline, 18 (27%) nurses self-reported seeing a parent with an injury, and of those only 7 (39%) followed up with intimate partner violence screening. Factor analysis was performed on the baseline Self-efficacy for Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Questionnaire by using varimax rotation. Five factors were identified: conflict, fear of offending parent, self-confidence, appropriateness, and attitude. Only fear of offending parent was significantly different from times 1 to 3, indicating that nurses were less fearful after the training. Cronbach\u27s α value for the total questionnaire at baseline was .85. Nurses reported significant improvement (baseline to 3-month follow-up) in several self-efficacy items. CONCLUSIONS. Participation in a 30-minute curriculum on intimate partner violence screening was associated with improvements in self-efficacy and significantly lower fear of offending parents 3 months after training. Nurses also showed improvement in the perception of resources available for nurses to manage intimate partner violence. Thirty-minute hospital-based curriculums that include victim testimonial video and practice role-playing to simulate parent interactions are recommended

Youth victim perspective: optimizing presentation of patient-reported outcomes in a violence intervention program

Abstract Introduction The health, well-being and psychological development of children in urban areas is threatened by exposure to interpersonal violence. Violence intervention programs, such as Project Ujima, provide children with comprehensive treatment following exposure to violence. Services focus on the interruption of the violence cycle, mental health, and developing resiliency. The collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from youth victims of violence informs community-based, programmatic, and individual participant interventions. Although the collection of PROs throughout treatment has been demonstrated to be feasible, youth and crime victim specialist preferences for data presentation is unknown. We sought to determine patient and crime victim specialist preferences regarding which PROs are of interest and how best to visually display them for optimal engagement. Results Fifteen youth and nine crime victim specialists consented to participate. Both preferred visuals with the highest level of color-shading and descriptions. The domains with the highest level of interest among both youth and case workers were social, anger, emotional, school, physical, peer relations, and psychosocial well-being. Youth and crime victim specialists expressed low interest in positive affect, meaning/purpose, physical stress experience, and depression domains. Youth wanted to see their scores compared to others in the program, while crime victim specialists did not think such comparisons would be beneficial. In contrast to youth, crime victim specialists believed youth should see their physical functioning and PTSD scores. Conclusion Youth participants and their crime victim specialists in a violence intervention program desired to see their PROs in a graphical form and agreed on their preference for many of the domains except for PTSD and physical functioning. Both groups preferred visuals with the highest level of shading and descriptions. Further investigation is needed to determine how to implement PRO visuals with the desired domains into regular violence intervention programming. Methods Participants in Project Ujima’s 8-week summer camp, ages 7–18 years, who were either a victim of violent injury, a direct relative of a violent injury victim, or a homicide survivor were recruited for this qualitative study. Crime victim specialists, who work directly with these youth throughout the year, were also recruited to participate. We conducted structured interviews to determine which parameters and visual formats were of highest interest and best understood by youth participants and crime victim specialists

Five Profiles of Adolescents at Elevated Risk for Suicide Attempts: Differences in Mental Health Service Use

ObjectiveAdolescents at risk for suicide are highly heterogeneous in terms of psychiatric and social risk factors, yet there has been little systematic research on risk profiles, which would facilitate recognition and the matching of patients to services. Our primary study aims were to identify latent class profiles of adolescents with elevated suicide risk, and to examine the association of these profiles with mental health service use (MHSU).MethodParticipants were 1,609 adolescents from the Emergency Department Screen for Teens at Risk for Suicide (ED-STARS) cohort. Participants completed baseline surveys assessing demographics, MHSU, and suicide risk. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted at 3 months to assess suicide attempts. Participants met pre-established baseline criteria for suicide risk.ResultsUsing latent class analysis, we derived 5 profiles of elevated suicide risk with differing patterns of eight risk factors: history of multiple suicide attempts, past-month suicidal ideation, depression, alcohol and drug misuse, impulsive-aggression, and sexual and physical abuse. In comparison to adolescents who did not meet baseline criteria for suicide risk, each profile was associated with increased risk of a suicide attempt within 3 months. The MHSU was lowest for adolescents fitting profiles with previous (but no recent) suicidal thoughts and behavior, and for adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups.ConclusionAdolescents at elevated risk for suicide present to emergency departments with differing profiles of suicide risk. MHSU varies across these profiles and by race/ethnicity, indicating that targeted risk recognition and treatment linkage efforts may be necessary to reach some adolescents at risk

Prediction of Suicide Attempts and Suicide-Related Events Among Adolescents Seen in Emergency Departments

IMPORTANCE: Screening adolescents in emergency departments (EDs) for suicidal risk is a recommended strategy for suicide prevention. Comparing screening measures on predictive validity could guide ED clinicians in choosing a screening tool. OBJECTIVE: To compare the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) instrument with the Computerized Adaptive Screen for Suicidal Youth (CASSY) instrument for the prediction of suicidal behavior among adolescents seen in EDs, across demographic and clinical strata. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Emergency Department Study for Teens at Risk for Suicide is a prospective, random-series, multicenter cohort study that recruited adolescents, oversampled for those with psychiatric symptoms, who presented to the ED from July 24, 2017, through October 29, 2018, with a 3-month follow-up to assess the occurrence of suicidal behavior. The study included 14 pediatric ED members of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network and 1 Indian Health Service ED. Statistical analysis was performed from May 2021 through January 2023. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: This study used a prediction model to assess outcomes. The primary outcome was suicide attempt (SA), and the secondary outcome was suicide-related visits to the ED or hospital within 3 months of baseline; both were assessed by an interviewer blinded to baseline information. The ASQ is a 4-item questionnaire that surveys suicidal ideation and lifetime SAs. A positive response or nonresponse on any item indicates suicidal risk. The CASSY is a computerized adaptive screening tool that always includes 3 ASQ items and a mean of 8 additional items. The CASSY\u27s continuous outcome is the predicted probability of an SA. RESULTS: Of 6513 adolescents available, 4050 were enrolled, 3965 completed baseline assessments, and 2740 (1705 girls [62.2%]; mean [SD] age at enrollment, 15.0 [1.7] years; 469 Black participants [17.1%], 678 Hispanic participants [24.7%], and 1618 White participants [59.1%]) completed both screenings and follow-ups. The ASQ and the CASSY showed a similar sensitivity (0.951 [95% CI, 0.918-0.984] vs 0.945 [95% CI, 0.910-0.980]), specificity (0.588 [95% CI, 0.569-0.607] vs 0.643 [95% CI, 0.625-0.662]), positive predictive value (0.127 [95% CI, 0.109-0.146] vs 0.144 [95% CI, 0.123-0.165]), and negative predictive value (both 0.995 [95% CI, 0.991-0.998], respectively). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve findings were similar among patients with physical symptoms (ASQ, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.81-0.95] vs CASSY, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.91-0.96]). Among patients with psychiatric symptoms, the CASSY performed better than the ASQ (0.72 [95% CI, 0.68-0.77] vs 0.57 [95% CI, 0.55-0.59], respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study suggests that both the ASQ and the CASSY are appropriate for universal screening of patients in pediatric EDs. For the small subset of patients with psychiatric symptoms, the CASSY shows greater predictive validity

A comparison of self-reported risk and protective factors and the death implicit association test in the prediction of future suicide attempts in adolescent emergency department patients

BackgroundConcerns have been raised about the utility of self-report assessments in predicting future suicide attempts. Clinicians in pediatric emergency departments (EDs) often are required to assess suicidal risk. The Death Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an alternative to self-report assessment of suicidal risk that may have utility in ED settings.MethodsA total of 1679 adolescents recruited from 13 pediatric emergency rooms in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network were assessed using a self-report survey of risk and protective factors for a suicide attempt, and the IAT, and then followed up 3 months later to determine if an attempt had occurred. The accuracy of prediction was compared between self-reports and the IAT using the area under the curve (AUC) with respect to receiver operator characteristics.ResultsA few self-report variables, namely, current and past suicide ideation, past suicidal behavior, total negative life events, and school or social connectedness, predicted an attempt at 3 months with an AUC of 0.87 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.84-0.90] in the entire sample, and AUC = 0.91, (95% CI 0.85-0.95) for those who presented without reported suicidal ideation. The IAT did not add significantly to the predictive power of selected self-report variables. The IAT alone was modestly predictive of 3-month attempts in the overall sample ((AUC = 0.59, 95% CI 0.52-0.65) and was a better predictor in patients who were non-suicidal at baseline (AUC = 0.67, 95% CI 0.55-0.79).ConclusionsIn pediatric EDs, a small set of self-reported items predicted suicide attempts within 3 months more accurately than did the IAT