Structure and Functions of Pediatric Aerodigestive Programs: A Consensus Statement

Aerodigestive programs provide coordinated interdisciplinary care to pediatric patients with complex congenital or acquired conditions affecting breathing, swallowing, and growth. Although there has been a proliferation of programs, as well as national meetings, interest groups and early research activity, there is, as of yet, no consensus definition of an aerodigestive patient, standardized structure, and functions of an aerodigestive program or a blueprint for research prioritization. The Delphi method was used by a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional panel of aerodigestive providers to obtain consensus on 4 broad content areas related to aerodigestive care: (1) definition of an aerodigestive patient, (2) essential construct and functions of an aerodigestive program, (3) identification of aerodigestive research priorities, and (4) evaluation and recognition of aerodigestive programs and future directions. After 3 iterations of survey, consensus was obtained by either a supermajority of 75% or stability in median ranking on 33 of 36 items. This included a standard definition of an aerodigestive patient, level of participation of specific pediatric disciplines in a program, essential components of the care cycle and functions of the program, feeding and swallowing assessment and therapy, procedural scope and volume, research priorities and outcome measures, certification, coding, and funding. We propose the first consensus definition of the aerodigestive care model with specific recommendations regarding associated personnel, infrastructure, research, and outcome measures. We hope that this may provide an initial framework to further standardize care, develop clinical guidelines, and improve outcomes for aerodigestive patients

Evaluation of guided imagery as treatment for recurrent abdominal pain in children: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Because of the paucity of effective evidence-based therapies for children with recurrent abdominal pain, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of guided imagery, a well-studied self-regulation technique. METHODS: 22 children, aged 5 – 18 years, were randomized to learn either breathing exercises alone or guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation. Both groups had 4-weekly sessions with a therapist. Children reported the numbers of days with pain, the pain intensity, and missed activities due to abdominal pain using a daily pain diary collected at baseline and during the intervention. Monthly phone calls to the children reported the number of days with pain and the number of days of missed activities experienced during the month of and month following the intervention. Children with ≤ 4 days of pain/month and no missed activities due to pain were defined as being healed. Depression, anxiety, and somatization were measured in both children and parents at baseline. RESULTS: At baseline the children who received guided imagery had more days of pain during the preceding month (23 vs. 14 days, P = 0.04). There were no differences in the intensity of painful episodes or any baseline psychological factors between the two groups. Children who learned guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation had significantly greater decrease in the number of days with pain than those learning breathing exercises alone after one (67% vs. 21%, P = 0.05), and two (82% vs. 45%, P < 0.01) months and significantly greater decrease in days with missed activities at one (85% vs. 15%, P = 0.02) and two (95% vs. 77%. P = 0.05) months. During the two months of follow-up, more children who had learned guided imagery met the threshold of ≤ 4 day of pain each month and no missed activities (RR = 7.3, 95%CI [1.1,48.6]) than children who learned only the breathing exercises. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic efficacy of guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation found in this study is consistent with our present understanding of the pathophysiology of recurrent abdominal pain in children. Although unfamiliar to many pediatricians, guided imagery is a simple, noninvasive therapy with potential benefit for treating children with RAP

Welcome to Children — A New Open Access Journal Dedicated to Sharing Medical Research Relevant to Children’s Health

I am very excited about the upcoming launch of Children, a journal dedicated to the streamlined yet scientifically rigorous electronic dissemination of peer-reviewed science related to childhood health and disease in developed and developing countries. The future of our world depends on the health and well-being of all its children. Thus, the global health issues facing children today will determine medical history. Unfortunately, as the world becomes more of a global information village in many respects, there have remained impediments to eliminating regional disparities in sharing health information, be it in the fields of infectious diseases, nutrition or cancer risks, to name but a few. It is my hope that Children will be a forum for sharing information, and engaging in discussions and dialogue relevant to the care of children, unimpeded by limitations imposed by traditional print media. We also hope to dedicate entire issues to timely and relevant single-topic publications. [...

Distributed lag and spline modeling for predicting energy expenditure from accelerometry in youth

Movement sensing using accelerometers is commonly used for the measurement of physical activity (PA) and estimating energy expenditure (EE) under free-living conditions. The major limitation of this approach is lack of accuracy and precision in estimating EE, especially in low-intensity activities. Thus the objective of this study was to investigate benefits of a distributed lag spline (DLS) modeling approach for the prediction of total daily EE (TEE) and EE in sedentary (1.0–1.5 metabolic equivalents; MET), light (1.5–3.0 MET), and moderate/vigorous (≥3.0 MET) intensity activities in 10- to 17-year-old youth (n = 76). We also explored feasibility of the DLS modeling approach to predict physical activity EE (PAEE) and METs. Movement was measured by Actigraph accelerometers placed on the hip, wrist, and ankle. With whole-room indirect calorimeter as the reference standard, prediction models (Hip, Wrist, Ankle, Hip+Wrist, Hip+Wrist+Ankle) for TEE, PAEE, and MET were developed and validated using the fivefold cross-validation method. The TEE predictions by these DLS models were not significantly different from the room calorimeter measurements (all P > 0.05). The Hip+Wrist+Ankle predicted TEE better than other models and reduced prediction errors in moderate/vigorous PA for TEE, MET, and PAEE (all P < 0.001). The Hip+Wrist reduced prediction errors for the PAEE and MET at sedentary PA (P = 0.020 and 0.021) compared with the Hip. Models that included Wrist correctly classified time spent at light PA better than other models. The means and standard deviations of the prediction errors for the Hip+Wrist+Ankle and Hip were 0.4 ± 144.0 and 1.5 ± 164.7 kcal for the TEE, 0.0 ± 84.2 and 1.3 ± 104.7 kcal for the PAEE, and −1.1 ± 97.6 and −0.1 ± 108.6 MET min for the MET models. We conclude that the DLS approach for accelerometer data improves detailed EE prediction in youth