Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Needs in Pediatric Infectious Diseases Outpatient Settings

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• Social Determinants of Health
• Health Equity

Background:

• Pediatric infectious disease (ID) outpatient settings often overlook household psychosocial needs.
• Routine screening for health-related social needs (HRSNs) and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is not standard practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the prevalence of HRSNs, caregiver ACEs, and neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation index (SDI) scores in pediatric ID outpatient settings.
• To explore the relationship between HRSNs and socioeconomic deprivation.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 306 caregivers of pediatric ID outpatients using paper questionnaires for HRSNs and ACEs.
• Utilized geocoded addresses to determine neighborhood-level SDI scores.
• Analyzed data for prevalence and correlations between variables.

Main Results:

• Caregivers reported high rates of anxiety (70%), depression (20%), and food insecurity (10%).
• Twenty percent of caregivers reported experiencing four or more ACEs.
• Children with food insecurity had significantly higher median SDI scores (0.61) compared to those without (0.28).

Conclusions:

• Pediatric ID clinicians can play a vital role in addressing psychosocial challenges.
• Integrating HRSN and ACE screening with SDI risk stratification can help reduce health inequities.
• Systematic screening is crucial for identifying and mitigating social determinants of health in pediatric populations.