Faculty Bibliography

CONTEXT: Parents often manage complex instructions when their children are discharged from the inpatient setting or emergency department (ED); misunderstanding instructions can put children at risk for adverse outcomes. Parents' ability to manage discharge instructions has not been examined before in a systematic review. OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review of the literature related to parental management (knowledge and execution) of inpatient and ED discharge instructions. DATA SOURCES: We consulted PubMed/Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane CENTRAL (from database inception to January 1, 2017). STUDY SELECTION: We selected experimental or observational studies in the inpatient or ED settings in which parental knowledge or execution of discharge instructions were evaluated. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently screened potential studies for inclusion and extracted data from eligible articles by using a structured form. RESULTS: Sixty-four studies met inclusion criteria; most (n = 48) were ED studies. Medication dosing and adherence errors were common; knowledge of medication side effects was understudied (n = 1). Parents frequently missed follow-up appointments and misunderstood return precaution instructions. Few researchers conducted studies that assessed management of instructions related to diagnosis (n = 3), restrictions (n = 2), or equipment (n = 1). Complex discharge plans (eg, multiple medicines or appointments), limited English proficiency, and public or no insurance were associated with errors. Few researchers conducted studies that evaluated the role of parent health literacy (ED, n = 5; inpatient, n = 0). LIMITATIONS: The studies were primarily observational in nature. CONCLUSIONS: Parents frequently make errors related to knowledge and execution of inpatient and ED discharge instructions. Researchers in the future should assess parental management of instructions for domains that are less well studied and focus on the design of interventions to improve discharge plan management.

OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to evaluate patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) to (1) determine if these patients would meet the criteria for brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE), a new term coined by the American Academy of Pediatrics in May, 2016; (2) risk stratify these patients to determine if they meet the BRUE low-risk criteria; and (3) evaluate outcomes of patients meeting the criteria for BRUE. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients who presented to a large urban academic center pediatric emergency department with an ALTE from January 2013 to May 2015 (before the publication of the BRUE guideline). Children ≤12 months of age were identified by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth/Tenth Revision. Two physician reviews were performed to determine if patients met the ALTE diagnostic criteria. Data were then extracted from these charts to complete objectives. RESULTS:Seventy-eight patients met the diagnostic criteria for ALTE. Only 1 of those patients met the diagnostic criteria for BRUE, but not for low-risk BRUE. This patient underwent an extensive inpatient evaluation and was eventually discharged after monitoring with a benign diagnosis. Most patients did not meet the criteria for BRUE because the event was not unexplained. CONCLUSIONS:Only 1 patient who presented to the ED with ALTE met the criteria for BRUE, and this patient did not meet the low-risk criteria. This study corroborates previous research on BRUE and continues to highlight the importance of conducting a thorough history and physical examination on all patients presenting to the ED with concerning events.

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is known to cause cardiac abnormalities in adults. Cardiac abnormalities are well-described in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, but effects in children with acute COVID-19 are less understood. In this multicenter study, we assessed the cardiac effects of acute COVID-19 among hospitalized children (<21 years) admitted to three large healthcare systems in New York City. Methods We performed a retrospective observational study. We examined electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, troponin, or B-type natriuretic peptides. Results Of 317 admitted patients, 131 (41%) underwent cardiac testing with 56 (43%) demonstrating cardiac abnormalities. Electrocardiogram abnormalities were the most common (46/117 patients (39%)), including repolarization abnormalities and QT prolongation. Elevated troponin occurred in 14/77 (18%) patients and B-type natriuretic peptide in 8/39 (21%) patients. Ventricular dysfunction was identified in 5/27 (19%) patients with an echocardiogram, all of whom had elevated troponin. Ventricular dysfunction resolved by first outpatient follow-up. Conclusion Electrocardiogram and troponin can assist clinicians in identifying children at risk for cardiac injury in acute COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE:Inpatient discharge education is often suboptimal. Measures of parents' perceived comprehension of discharge instructions are included in national metrics given linkage to morbidity; few studies compare parents' perceived and actual comprehension. We (1) compared parent perceived and actual comprehension of discharge instructions and (2) assessed associations between plan complexity and parent health literacy with overestimation of comprehension (perceive comprehension but lack actual comprehension). METHODS:Prospective cohort study of English/Spanish-speaking parents (n=192) of inpatients ≤12 years old and discharged on ≥1 daily medication from an urban public hospital. We used McNemar's tests to compare parent perceived (agree/strongly agree on 5-point Likert scale) and actual comprehension (concordance of parent report with medical record) of instructions (domains: medications, appointments, return precautions, and restrictions). Generalized estimating equations were performed to assess associations between low parent health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score ≤3) and plan complexity with overestimation of comprehension. RESULTS:Medication side effects were the domain with lowest perceived comprehension (80%), while >95% of parents perceived comprehension for other domains. Actual comprehension varied by domain (41-87%) and was lower than perceived comprehension. Most (84%) parents overestimated comprehension in ≥1 domain. Plan complexity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.6 [95% CI 2.9-4.7]) and low health literacy (aOR 1.9 [1.3-2.6]) were associated with overestimation of comprehension. CONCLUSIONS:Parental perceived comprehension of discharge instructions overestimated actual comprehension in most domains. Plan complexity and low health literacy were associated with overestimation of comprehension. Future interventions should incorporate assessment of actual comprehension and standardization of discharge instructions.

OBJECTIVE:To examine associations between parent health literacy, discharge plan complexity, and parent comprehension of and adherence to inpatient discharge instructions. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS:This was a prospective cohort study of English/Spanish-speaking parents (n = 165) of children ≤12 years discharged on ≥1 daily medication from an urban, public hospital. Outcome variables were parent comprehension (survey) of and adherence (survey, in-person dosing assessment, chart review) to discharge instructions. Predictor variables included low parent health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score 0-3) and plan complexity. Generalized estimating equations were used to account for the assessment of multiple types of comprehension and adherence errors for each subject, adjusting for ethnicity, language, child age, length of stay, and chronic disease status. Similar analyses were performed to assess for mediation and moderation. RESULTS:Error rates were highest for comprehension of medication side effects (50%), adherence to medication dose (34%), and return precaution (78%) instructions. Comprehension errors were associated with adherence errors (aOR, 8.7; 95% CI, 5.9-12.9). Discharge plan complexity was associated with comprehension (aOR, 7.0; 95% CI, 5.4-9.1) and adherence (aOR, 5.5; 95% CI, 4.0-7.6) errors. Low health literacy was indirectly associated with adherence errors through comprehension errors. The association between plan complexity and comprehension errors was greater in parents with low (aOR, 8.3; 95% CI, 6.2-11.2) compared with adequate (aOR, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.2-6.5) health literacy (interaction term P = .004). CONCLUSIONS:Parent health literacy and discharge plan complexity play key roles in comprehension and adherence errors. Future work will focus on the development of health literacy-informed interventions to promote discharge plan comprehension.