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Published on: August 25, 2014
Well-Child Care Adherence After Intrauterine Opioid Exposure
Neera K Goyal1, Jessica F Rohde2,3, Vanessa Short4
1Departments of Pediatrics and neera.goyal@nemours.org.
Insights
Children with intrauterine opioid exposure (IOE) show lower adherence to well-child care (WCC) visits in the first two years of life. This highlights a need for targeted support to ensure comprehensive care for these children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric primary care
- Public health
- Neonatal abstinence syndrome research
Background:
- Well-child care (WCC) is crucial for addressing medical, developmental, and psychosocial needs of children.
- Children with intrauterine opioid exposure (IOE) require specialized attention within WCC settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate adherence to WCC schedules for children with IOE.
- To identify potential gaps in care for this vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study using PEDSnet data (2011-2016).
- IOE ascertained via physician diagnosis codes.
- WCC adherence defined by visit completion in the first two years; multivariable regression used to analyze IOE impact.
Main Results:
- Children with IOE (2.1%) had significantly lower WCC adherence in both the first and second years of life.
- Increased likelihood of WCC gaps (≥2 missed consecutive visits) observed in children with IOE.
- No significant differences in immunizations or lead screening adherence were found.
Conclusions:
- Children with IOE demonstrate reduced adherence to recommended WCC visits.
- Despite timely immunizations and lead screening, gaps in WCC persist for this population.
- Further research is needed to optimize WCC for supporting the complex needs of children with IOE.
Background And Objectives:
For children with intrauterine opioid exposure (IOE), well-child care (WCC) provides an important opportunity to address medical, developmental, and psychosocial needs. We evaluated WCC adherence for this population.
Methods:
In this retrospective cohort study, we used PEDSnet data from a pediatric primary care network spanning 3 states from 2011 to 2016. IOE was ascertained by using physician diagnosis codes. WCC adherence in the first year was defined as a postnatal or 1-month visit and completed 2-, 4-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month visits. WCC adherence in the second year was defined as completed 15- and 18-month visits. Gaps in WCC, defined as ≥2 missed consecutive WCC visits, were also evaluated. We used multivariable regression to test the independent effect of IOE status.
Results:
Among 11 334 children, 236 (2.1%) had a diagnosis of IOE. Children with IOE had a median of 6 WCC visits (interquartile range 5-7), vs 8 (interquartile range 6-8) among children who were not exposed (P < .001). IOE was associated with decreased WCC adherence over the first and second years of life (adjusted relative risk 0.54 [P < .001] and 0.74 [P < .001]). WCC gaps were more likely in this population (adjusted relative risk 1.43; P < .001). There were no significant adjusted differences in nonroutine primary care visits, immunizations by age 2, or lead screening.
Conclusions:
Children <2 years of age with IOE are less likely to adhere to recommended WCC, despite receiving on-time immunizations and lead screening. Further research should be focused on the role of WCC visits to support the complex needs of this population.
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