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Electronic Screening for Adolescent Risk Behaviors in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Siobhan Thomas-Smith1, Eileen J Klein1, Bonnie Strelitz2
1University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Seattle, Washington.
Introduction:
In this study we aimed to assess the impact of an electronic health assessment with individualized feedback for risk behaviors in adolescents seeking care in a pediatric emergency department (ED).
Methods:
We conducted a randomized control trial using a tablet-based screening program with a study population of adolescents in a busy pediatric ED. The intervention group received the screening program with individualized feedback. The control group received the screening program without feedback. All participants received one-day and three-month follow-up surveys to assess behaviors and attitudes toward health behaviors.
Results:
A total of 296 subjects were enrolled and randomized. There was no difference in changes in risky behaviors between the control and experimental groups. A higher proportion of participants in the intervention groups reported that the screener changed the way they thought about their health at one-day follow-up (27.0%, 36/133) compared to the control group (15.5%, 20/129, P = .02).
Conclusion:
This study successfully tested a multivariable electronic health screener in a real-world setting of a busy pediatric ED. The tool did not significantly change risky health behaviors in the adolescent population screened. However, our finding that the intervention changed adolescents' perceptions of their health opens a door to the continued development of electronic interventions to screen for and target risk behaviors in adolescents in the ED setting.
