Advancing a comprehensive cancer care agenda for children and their families: Institute of Medicine Workshop highlights and next steps
Family; National Academies Of Science; Palliative Care; Quality Of Life; Adult; American Cancer Society/organization & Administration; And Medicine (u.S.) Health And; Child; Education/ Organization & Administration; Engineering; Humans; Medical Oncology; Medicine Division/organization & Administration; Neoplasms/rehabilitation/ Therapy; Psychosocial Support Systems; United States
This article highlights key findings from the "Comprehensive Cancer Care for Children and Their Families" March 2015 joint workshop by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the American Cancer Society. This initiative convened more than 100 family members, clinician investigators, advocates, and members of the public to discuss emerging evidence and care models and to determine the next steps for optimizing quality-of-life outcomes and well-being for children and families during pediatric cancer treatment, after treatment completion, and across the life spectrum. Participants affirmed the triple aim of pediatric oncology that strives for every child with cancer to be cured; provides high-quality palliative and psychosocial supportive, restorative, and rehabilitative care to children and families throughout the illness course and survivorship; and assures receipt of high-quality end-of-life care for patients with advancing disease. Workshop outcomes emphasized the need for new pediatric cancer drug development and identified critical opportunities to prioritize palliative care and psychosocial support as an integral part of pediatric cancer research and treatment, including the necessity for adequately resourcing these supportive services to minimize suffering and distress, effectively address quality-of-life needs for children and families at all stages of illness, and mitigate the long-term health risks associated with childhood cancer and its treatment. Next steps include dismantling existing silos and enhancing collaboration between clinical investigators, disease-directed specialists, and supportive care services; expanding the use of patient-reported and parent-reported outcomes; effectively integrating palliative and psychosocial care; and clinical communication skills development. CA Cancer J Clin 2016;66:398-407. (c) 2016 American Cancer Society.
Kirch R; Reaman G; Feudtner C; Wiener L; Schwartz LA; Sung L; Wolfe J
Ca: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians
2016
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21347" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.3322/caac.21347</a>
An Interprofessional Team-Based Intervention to Address Barriers to Initiating Palliative Care in Pediatric Oncology: A Multiple-Method Evaluation of Feasibility, Acceptability, and Impact
oncology; Pediatric palliative care; feasibility; codesign; team cohesion; team collaboration
CONTEXT: Many children with advanced cancer are not referred to palliative care despite both professional recommendations to do so and bereaved parental preference for earlier support from sub-specialty palliative care. OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of an adaptive intervention to address individual and team-level barriers to specialty palliative care referrals. METHODS: A multiple-method approach assessed feasibility and acceptability among clinicians from pediatric oncology teams at a single institution. Quantitative measures of comfort with palliative care consultations, team cohesion, and team collaboration were conducted before and after the intervention. Number of palliative care consults were examined before, during, and after sessions. Intervention satisfaction surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted after the intervention. RESULTS: Twenty-six team members (90% of consented) attended at least one intervention session with 20 (69%) participants completing 75% or more sessions. The intervention was modified in response to participant feedback. After the intervention, participants reported greater team cohesion, comfort discussing palliative care consultation, team collaboration, process satisfaction, and decision satisfaction. Participants agreed that the training was useful, effective, helpful, and worthwhile, that they would use the skills, and that they would recommend the training to other providers. The numbers of palliative care consults increased before intervention sessions were conducted, but did not significantly change during or after the sessions. In the interviews, participants reported overall favorably regarding the intervention with some participants reporting changes in practice. CONCLUSION: An adaptive intervention to reduce barriers to initiating palliative care for pediatric oncology teams is feasible and acceptable.
Walter JK; Hill DL; Schall TE; Szymczak JE; Parikh S; DiDomenico C; Carroll KW; Nye RT; Feudtner C
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2021
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.06.008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.06.008</a>
Changes in Parental Hopes for Seriously Ill Children
BACKGROUND: Hopes of parents of children with serious illness play an important role in decision-making and coping. Little is known about how parent hopes change over time. We describe the changes in parent hopes across multiple domains and time intervals, examine hopes in a subgroup of parents whose child died, and explore the maintenance of domains over time. METHODS: In a mixed-methods prospective cohort study on decision-making, parents of seriously ill children reported demographic characteristics and hopes at baseline and reported any changes in hopes at 4-, 8-, 12-, 16-, and 20-month follow-up visits. Hopes were coded into 9 domains. Hope changes and domain changes were identified for each parent at each visit. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-nine parents of 158 patients most often reported hopes in the domains of quality of life (75%), physical body (69%), future well-being (47%), and medical care (34%). Hope percentages increased over time for quality of life (84%), future well-being (64%), and broader meaning (21%). The hope domains reported by parents of children who died were similar to the rest of the sample. The majority of parents who completed 5 to 6 follow-up visits changed at least 1 domain. At the individual parent level, some domains revealed considerable change over time, whereas other domains were stable among a subset of parents. CONCLUSIONS: The specific hopes and overall areas of hope of parents of seriously ill children vary over time, although most hopes fall within 4 major areas. Accordingly, clinicians should regularly check with parents about their current hopes.
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Hill DL; Nathanson PG; Carroll KW; Schall TE; Miller VA; Feudtner C
Pediatrics
2018
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3549" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1542/peds.2017-3549</a>
Changes Over Time in Good-Parent Beliefs Among Parents of Children with Serious Illness: Two Year Cohort Study (TH320B)
Child; Cohort Studies; Only Child; child
Hill D; Faerber J; Carroll K; Miller V; Morrison W; Hinds P; Feudtner C
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2018
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.024</a>
Characteristics of deaths occurring in children's hospitals: implications for supportive care services
Child; Humans; Hospital Mortality; Respiration; Hospitals; ICU Decision Making; Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data; Artificial; Pediatric/statistics & numerical data; Terminal Care/methods; Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data; Chronic Disease/epidemiology/mortality/therapy
CONTEXT: End-of-life care is an important yet underdeveloped component of pediatric hospital services. OBJECTIVES: We sought 1) to describe the demographics of children who die in children's hospitals, 2) to describe the prevalence of complex chronic conditions (CCCs) among these cases, and 3) to test the hypotheses that cases with a greater number of CCC diagnoses experience longer periods both of mechanical ventilation and of hospitalization before death. Design and Methods. We identified all deaths of patients 0 to 24 years old that occurred in the 60 hospitals contributing discharge data to the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions data consortium for the years 1991, 1994, and 1997. We classified discharge diagnoses into 9 major categories of CCCs (cardiovascular, neuromuscular, malignancy, respiratory, renal, metabolic, gastrointestinal, hematologic/immunologic, and other congenital/genetic). RESULTS: Of the 13 761 deaths identified, 42% had been admitted between 0 and 28 days of life, 18% between 1 and 12 months, 25% between 1 and 9 years, and 15% between 10 and 24 years. Fifty-three percent were white, 20% were black, and 9% were Hispanic. The principal payer was listed as a governmental source for 42% and a private insurance company for 35%. Based on all the discharge diagnoses recorded for each case, 40% had no CCC diagnosis, 44% had diagnoses representing 1 major CCC category, 13% had diagnoses representing 2 CCC categories, and 4% had diagnoses representing 3 or more CCC categories. Among cases that had no CCC diagnoses, the principal diagnoses were related to prematurity and newborn disorders for 32% of these cases, injuries and poisoning for 26%, and an assortment of acute and infectious processes for the remaining 42%. Mechanical ventilation was provided to 66% of neonates, 40% of infants, 36% of children, and 36% of adolescents. Cases with CCCs were more likely than non-CCC cases to have been mechanically ventilated (52% vs 46%), and to have been ventilated longer (mean: 11.7 days for CCC cases vs 4.8 days for non-CCC cases). The median duration of hospitalization was 4 days, while the mean was 16.4 days. After adjustment for age, sex, year, and principal payer, compared with patients with no CCC diagnoses, those with 1 major CCC category had a significantly lower hazard of dying soon after admission (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57-0.62), those with 2 CCC categories even lower (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.50-0.57), and those with 3 or more CCC categories the lowest hazard of rapid death (HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.46-0.57). This trend of diminishing hazard of rapid death was significant across the 3 groups of children with 1 or more CCCs. CONCLUSIONS: Children's hospitals care for a substantial number of dying patients, who differ widely by age and medical conditions. Children who die in the hospital with CCCs are more likely to experience longer periods of mechanical ventilation and hospitalization before death.
2002
Feudtner C; Christakis DA; Zimmerman FJ; Muldoon JH; Neff JM; Koepsell TD
Pediatrics
2002
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.109.5.887" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.109.5.887</a>
Children with complex chronic conditions in inpatient hospital settings in the United States
Cohen 2006 BMC HSR Refs
2010
Simon TD; Berry J; Feudtner C; Stone BL; Sheng X; Bratton SL; Dean JM; Srivastava R
Pediatrics
2010
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-3266" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.2009-3266</a>
Collaborative communication in pediatric palliative care: a foundation for problem-solving and decision-making
Child; Humans; Palliative Care; Pediatrics; Cooperative Behavior; Communication; Expressed Emotion; Interprofessional Relations; Problem Solving
In an ideal world, all of us - patients, parents, family members, nurses, physicians, social workers, therapists, pastoral care workers, and others - would always work together in a collaborative manner to provide the best care possible. This article bases the framework for this ideal upon studies of communication between patients, families, and clinicians, as well as more general works on communication, collaboration, decision-making, mediation, and ethics, and is comprised of four parts: what is meant by collaborative communication; key concepts that influence how we frame the situations that children with life-threatening conditions confront and how these frameworks shape the care we provide; general topics that are important to the task of collaborative communication, specifically how we use heuristics when we set about to solve complicated problems; and three common tasks of collaborative communication, offering practical advice for patient care.
2007
Feudtner C
Pediatric Clinics Of North America
2007
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcl.2007.07.008" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1016/j.pcl.2007.07.008</a>
Comparison of Pediatric and Adult Hospice Patients Using Electronic Medical Record Data from Nine Hospices in the United States, 2008–2012
Background: Most pediatric hospice patients receive services from agencies typically oriented to adults. Information regarding how pediatric hospice patients differ from adult hospice patients is lacking. Objective: We aim to assess differences between pediatric and adult hospice patients regarding patient characteristics and outcomes. Methods: We compiled a retrospective inception cohort of patients enrolled at nine hospices in the CHOICE network (Coalition of Hospices Organized to Investigate Comparative Effectiveness) between August 1, 2008 and June 30, 2012. Measurements included patient characteristics and outcomes, including discharge from hospice and site of death. Results: Among 126,620 hospice patients, 986 (0.8%) were 18 years of age or younger. Pediatric patients were less likely to have an admitting diagnosis of cancer (odds ratio [OR] 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54–0.72). Although children were less likely to use oxygen at enrollment (OR 0.31; 95% CI: 0.26–0.37), they were more likely to have an enteral feeding tube (OR 4.04; 95% CI: 3.49–4.67). Pediatric patients were half as likely as adults to have a do-not-resuscitate order (DNR) order upon hospice enrollment (OR 0.52; 95% CI: 0.46–0.59). The average hospice length of stay for pediatric patients was longer than that of adults (103 days versus 66 days, p<0.001). Children were more likely to leave hospice care (OR 2.59; 95% CI: 2.00–3.34), but among patients who died while enrolled in hospice, pediatric patients were more likely to die at home (OR 3.25; 95% CI: 2.27–3.88). Conclusions: Pediatric hospice patients differ from adult patients in their broader range of underlying diagnoses and their use of hospice services.
2014-11
Dingfield L; Bender L; Harris P; Newport K; Hoover-Regan M; Feudtner C; Clifford S; Casarett D
Journal Of Palliative Medicine
2014
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2014.0195" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1089/jpm.2014.0195</a>
Complexity of Medication Regimens for Children With Neurological Impairment
children with neurologic impairment; complex medication regimens; Cross-Sectional Studies; Parent support
IMPORTANCE: Parents of children with severe neurological impairment (SNI) manage complex medication regimens (CMRs) at home, and clinicians can help support parents and simplify CMRs. OBJECTIVE: To measure the complexity and potentially modifiable aspects of CMRs using the Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI) and to examine the association between MRCI scores and subsequent acute visits. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, at a single-center, large, hospital-based, complex care clinic. Participants were children with SNI aged 1 to 18 years and 5 or more prescribed medications. EXPOSURE: Home medication regimen complexity was assessed using MRCI scores. The total MRCI score is composed of 3 subscores (dosage form, dose frequency, and specialized instructions). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Patient-level counts of subscore characteristics and additional safety variables (total doses per day, high-alert medications, and potential drug-drug interactions) were analyzed by MRCI score groups (low, medium, and high score tertiles). Associations between MRCI score groups and acute visits were tested using Poisson regression, adjusted for age, complex chronic conditions, and recent health care use. RESULTS: Of 123 patients, 73 (59.3%) were male with a median (interquartile range [IQR]) age of 9 (5-13) years. The median (IQR) MRCI scores were 46 (35-61 [range, 8-139]) overall, 29 (24-35) for the low MRCI group, 46 (42-50) for the medium MRCI group, and 69 (61-78) for the high MRCI group. The median (IQR) counts for the subscores were 6 (4-7) dosage forms per patient, 7 (5-9) dose frequencies per patient, and 5 (4-8) instructions per patient, with counts increasing significantly across higher MRCI groups. Similar trends occurred for total daily doses (median [IQR], 31 [20-45] doses), high-alert medications (median [IQR], 3 [1-5] medications), and potential drug-drug interactions (median [IQR], 3 [0-6] interactions). Incidence rate ratios of 30-day acute visits were 1.26 times greater (95% CI, 0.57-2.78) in the medium MRCI group vs the low MRCI group and 2.42 times greater (95% CI, 1.10-5.35) in the high MRCI group vs the low MRCI group. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Higher MRCI scores were associated with multiple dose frequencies, complicated by different dosage forms and instructions, and associated with subsequent acute visits. These findings suggest that clinical interventions to manage CMRs could target various aspects of these regimens, such as the simplification of dosing schedules.
Feinstein JA; Friedman H; Orth LE; Feudtner C; Kempe A; Samay S; Blackmer AB
JAMA Network Open
2021
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.22818" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.22818</a>
Deaths attributed to pediatric complex chronic conditions: national trends and implications for supportive care services
Child; Female; Humans; Male; Adult; adolescent; Pediatrics/statistics & numerical data; ICU Decision Making; cause of death; United States/epidemiology; Mortality/trends; Chronic Disease/epidemiology/mortality
BACKGROUND: Children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) might benefit from pediatric supportive care services, such as home nursing, palliative care, or hospice, especially those children whose conditions are severe enough to cause death. We do not know, however, the extent of this population or how it is changing over time. OBJECTIVES: To identify trends over the past 2 decades in the pattern of deaths attributable to pediatric CCCs, examining counts and rates of CCC-attributed deaths by cause and age (infancy: <1 year old, childhood: 1-9 years old, adolescence or young adulthood: 10-24 years old) at the time of death, and to determine the average number of children living within the last 6 months of their lives. DESIGN/METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using national death certificate data and census estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics. Participants included all people 0 to 24 years old in the United States from 1979 to 1997. CCCs comprised a broad array of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes for cardiac, malignancy, neuromuscular, respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal, immunodeficiency, metabolic, genetic, and other congenital anomalies. Trends of counts and rates were tested using negative binomial regression. RESULTS: Of the 1.75 million deaths that occurred in 0- to 24-year-olds from 1979 to 1997, 5% were attributed to cancer CCCs, 16% to noncancer CCCs, 43% to injuries, and 37% to all other causes of death. Overall, both counts and rates of CCC-attributed deaths have trended downward, with declines more pronounced and statistically significant for noncancer CCCs among infants and children, and for cancer CCCs among children, adolescents, and young adults. In 1997, deaths attributed to all CCCs accounted for 7242 infant deaths, 2835 childhood deaths, and 5109 adolescent deaths. Again, in 1997, the average numbers of children alive who would die because of a CCC within the ensuing 6-month period were 1097 infants, 1414 children, and 2548 adolescents or young adults. CONCLUSIONS: Population-based planning of pediatric supportive care services should use measures that best inform our need to provide care for time-limited events (perideath or bereavement care) versus care for ongoing needs (home nursing or hospice). Pediatric supportive care services will need to serve patients with a broad range of CCCs from infancy into adulthood.
2001
Feudtner C; Hays RM; Haynes G; et al
Pediatrics
2001
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.107.6.e99" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.107.6.e99</a>
Developing a family-reported measure of experiences with home-based pediatric palliative and hospice care: a multi-method, multi-stakeholder approach
Pediatric palliative care; Pediatric hospice care; Home-based care; Experience with care; Instrument development
Background: Many children with serious illnesses are receiving palliative and end-of-life care from pediatric palliative and hospice care teams at home (PPHC@Home). Despite the growth in PPHC@Home, no standardized measures exist to evaluate whether PPHC@Home provided in the U.S. meets the needs and priorities of children and their families. Method(s): We developed and conducted a preliminary evaluation of a family-reported measure of PPHC@Home experiences using a multi-method, multi-stakeholder approach. Our instrument development process consisted of four phases. Item identification and development (Phase 1) involved a comprehensive literature search of existing instruments, guidelines, standards of practice, and PPHC@Home outcome studies, as well as guidance from a PPHC stakeholder panel. Phase 2 involved the initial item prioiritization and reduction using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with PPHC professionals and parent advocates. Phase 3 involved a second DCE with bereaved parents and parents currently receiving care for their child to further prioritize and winnow the items to a set of the most highly-valued items. Finally, we conducted cognitive interviews with parents to provide information about the content validity and clarity of the newly-developed instrument (Phase 4). Result(s): Items were compiled predominantly from three existing instruments. Phase 2 participants included 34 PPHC providers, researchers, and parent advocates; Phase 3 participants included 47 parents; and Phase 4 participants included 11 parents. At the completion of Phase 4, the Experiences of Palliative and Hospice Care for Children and Caregivers at Home (EXPERIENCE@Home) Measure contains 22 of the most highly-valued items for evaluating PPHC@Home. These items include "The care team treats my child's physical symptoms so that my child has as good a quality of life as possible", "I have regular access to on-call services from our care team", and "The nurses have the knowledge, skills, and experience to support my child's palliative or hospice care at home." Conclusion(s): The EXPERIENCE@Home Measure is the first known to specifically measure family-reported experiences with PPHC@Home in the U.S. Future work will include formal psychometric evaluation with a larger sample of parents, as well as evaluation of the clinical utility of the instrument with PPHC@Home teams. Copyright © 2021, The Author(s).
Boyden JY; Feudtner C; Deatrick JA; Widger K; LaRagione G; Lord B; Ersek M
BMC Palliative Care
2021
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-00703-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1186/s12904-020-00703-0</a>
Differences in Parent-Provider Concordance Regarding Prognosis and Goals of Care Among Children With Advanced Cancer
Purpose Concordance between parents of children with advanced cancer and health care providers has not been described. We aimed to describe parent-provider concordance regarding prognosis and goals of care, including differences by cancer type. Patients and Methods A total of 104 pediatric patients with recurrent or refractory cancer were enrolled at three large children’s hospitals. On enrollment, their parents and providers were invited to complete a survey assessing perceived prognosis and goals of care. Patients’ survival status was retrospectively abstracted from medical records. Concordance was assessed via discrepancies in perceived prognosis, κ statistics, and McNemar’s test. Distribution of categorical variables and survival rates across cancer type were compared with Fisher’s exact and log-rank tests, respectively. Results Data were available from 77 dyads (74% of enrolled). Parent-provider agreement regarding prognosis and goals of care was poor (κ, 0.12 to 0.30). Parents were more likely to report cure was likely (P < .001). The frequency of perceived likelihood of cure and the goal of cure varied by cancer type for both parents and providers (P < .001 to .004). Relatively optimistic responses were more common among parents and providers of patients with hematologic malignancies, although there were no differences in survival. Conclusion Parent-provider concordance regarding prognosis and goals in advanced pediatric cancer is generally poor. Perceptions of prognosis and goals of care vary by cancer type. Understanding these differences may inform parent-provider communication and decision making.
2014-07
Rosenberg AR; Orellana L; Kang TI; Geyer JR; Feudtner C; Dussel V; Wolfe J
Journal Of Clinical Oncology
2014
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2014.55.4659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1200/JCO.2014.55.4659</a>
Distance from home when death occurs: a population-based study of Washington State, 1989-2002
Child; Humans; infant; Palliative Care; Terminal Care; Adult; Hospital Mortality; Aged; Middle Aged; Health Services Accessibility; Death; Residence Characteristics; Hospitals; Washington; Nursing Homes; Emergency Service; adolescent; Preschool; infant; Newborn; location of death; Hospital
OBJECTIVE: For patients who die in hospitals, the regionalization of tertiary health care services may be increasing the home-to-hospital distance, particularly for younger patients whose care is especially regionalized and for whom access to and use of home hospice services remains limited. The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that the distance from home at the time of death in a hospital has increased over time and is inversely related to the age of the dying patient. METHODS: A population-based case series was conducted in Washington State of all deaths of state residents from 1989 to 2002. The main outcome measure was driving distance between home residence and location at the time of death. RESULTS: The overall mean distance from home to the hospital where death occurred has increased by 1% annually. Children who died in hospitals were much farther from home than their adult counterparts: the mean distance was 37.4 km for neonates and 50.9 km for children who were aged 1 to 9 years, compared with 19.9 km for adults who were aged 60 to 79 years and 14.0 km for patients who were older than 79 years. Disparities of distance were even greater among patients who were at the 90th percentile for distance (85.6 km for neonates compared with 30.8 for patient who were older than 79 years). CONCLUSIONS: The distance between home residence and the hospital where death occurs is greatest for children and has increased over time. Both of these findings have implications for the design of local and regional pediatric end-of-life supportive care services.
2006
Feudtner C; Silveira MJ; Shabbout M; Hoskins RE
Pediatrics
2006
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2005-2078" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.2005-2078</a>
Economic Impact of Advanced Pediatric Cancer on Families
Palliative Care; Pediatric; oncology; Disparities; financial; poverty
CONTEXT: Despite emerging evidence of substantial financial distress in families of children with complex illness, little is known about economic hardship in families of children with advanced cancer. OBJECTIVES: To describe perceived financial hardship, work disruptions, income losses, and associated economic impact in families of children with advanced cancer stratified by federal poverty level (FPL). METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of 86 parents of children with progressive, recurrent, or nonresponsive cancer at three children's hospitals. Seventy-one families with complete income data (82%) are included in this analysis. RESULTS: Parental work disruptions were prevalent across all income levels, with 67 (94%) families reporting some disruption. At least one parent quit a job because of the child's illness in 29 (42%) families. Nineteen (27%) families described their child's illness as a great economic hardship. Income losses because of work disruptions were substantial for all families; families at or below 200% FPL, however, were disproportionately affected. Six (50%) of the poorest families lost more than 40% of their annual income as compared with two (5%) of the wealthiest families (P = 0.006). As a result of income losses, nine (15%) previously nonpoor families fell from above to below 200% FPL. CONCLUSION: The economic impact of pediatric advanced cancer on families is significant at all income levels, although poorer families suffer disproportionate losses. Development of ameliorative intervention strategies is warranted.
Bona K; Dussel V; Orellana L; Kang T; Geyer R; Feudtner C; Wolfe J
Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management
2013
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.04.003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.04.003</a>
Emerging Methodologies in Pediatric Palliative Care Research: Six Case Studies
Given the broad focus of pediatric palliative care (PPC) on the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of children with potentially life-limiting illnesses and their families, PPC research requires creative methodological approaches. This manuscript, written by experienced PPC researchers, describes issues encountered in our own areas of research and the novel methods we have identified to target them. Specifically, we discuss potential approaches to: assessing symptoms among nonverbal children, evaluating medical interventions, identifying and treating problems related to polypharmacy, addressing missing data in longitudinal studies, evaluating longer-term efficacy of PPC interventions, and monitoring for inequities in PPC service delivery.
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Nelson K; Feinstein J; Gerhardt C; Rosenberg A; Widger K; Faerber J; Feudtner C
Children
2018
<a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/children5030032" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.3390/children5030032</a>
Ethical Framework for Risk Stratification and Mitigation Programs for Children With Medical Complexity
Only Child
Those in hospitals and health care systems, when designing clinical programs for children with medical complexity, often talk about needing to develop and implement a system of risk stratification. In this article, we use the framework of an ethical evaluation of a health care program to examine what this task of risk stratification might entail by identifying specific and detailed issues that require particular attention and making a series of recommendations to help ensure that programs for children with medical complexity avoid potentially ethically problematic situations and practices.
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Feudtner C; Schall T; Nathanson P; Berry J
Pediatrics
2018
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1284j" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1542/peds.2017-1284j</a>
Ethics, Emotions, And The Skills Of Talking About Progressing Disease With Terminally Ill Adolescents: A Review.
Parents; Young Adult; Prognostic Disclosure; Advanced Cancer; Of-life Care; Communication; Pediatric Palliative Care; Child; End; Pediatrics; Bad-news; Adolescent; Ethics; Communication; Emotions; Teenagers; Youth; Analysis; Psychological Aspects
IMPORTANCE:
For clinicians caring for adolescent patients living with progressive, life-threatening illness, discussions regarding prognosis, goals of care, and treatment options can be extremely challenging. While clinicians should respect and help to facilitate adolescents' emerging autonomy, they often must also work with parents' wishes to protect patients from the emotional distress of hearing bad news.
OBSERVATIONS:
We reviewed the ethical justifications for and against truth-telling, and we considered the published ethical and practice guidance, as well as the perspectives of patients, parents, and clinicians involved in these cases. We also explored particular challenges with respect to the cultural context, timing, and content of conversations at the end of adolescents' lives. In most cases, clinicians should gently but persistently engage adolescents directly in conversations about their disease prognosis and corresponding hopes, worries, and goals. These conversations need to occur multiple times, allowing significant time in each discussion for exploration of patient and family values. While truth-telling does not cause the types of harm that parents and clinicians may fear, discussing this kind of difficult news is almost always emotionally distressing. We suggest some "phrases that help" when clinicians strive to deepen understanding and facilitate difficult conversations with adolescents, parents, and other family members.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:
The pediatrician's opportunities to engage in difficult conversations about poor prognosis may be rare, but such conversations can be crucial. These discussions affect how patients live at the end of their lives, how they die, and how their families go on. Improved understanding of basic principles of communication, as well as augmented understanding of patient, family, and clinician perspectives may better enable us to navigate these important conversations.
Rosenberg AR; Wolfe J; Wiener L; Lyon M; Feudtner C
Jama Pediatrics
2016
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.2142
Feasibility of Conducting a Palliative Care Randomized Controlled Trial in Children With Advanced Cancer: Assessment of the PediQUEST Study
Neoplasms/th [therapy]; Palliative Care; Adolescent; Child; Feasibility Studies; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Palliative Care/mt [methods]; Patient Dropouts; Patient Selection; Pilot Projects; Preschool; Terminal Care
CONTEXT: Pediatric palliative care randomized controlled trials (PPC-RCTs) are uncommon. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility of conducting a PPC-RCT in pediatric cancer patients. METHODS: This was a cohort study embedded in the Pediatric Quality of Life and Evaluation of Symptoms Technology Study (NCT01838564). This multicenter PPC-RCT evaluated an electronic patient-reported outcomes system. Children aged two years and older, with advanced cancer, and potentially eligible for the study were included. Outcomes included: pre-inclusion attrition (patients not approached, refusals); post-inclusion attrition (drop-out, elimination, death, and intermittent attrition (IA; missing surveys) over nine months of follow-up); child/teenager self-report rates; and, reasons to enroll/participate. RESULTS: Over five years, of the 339 identified patients, 231 were eligible (in 22, we could not verify eligibility); 84 eligible patients were not approached and 43 declined participation. Patients not approached were more likely to die or have brain tumors. We enrolled 104 patients. Average enrollment rate was one patient per site per month; shortening follow-up from nine to three months (with optional re-enrollment) increased recruitment by 20%. A total of 87 patients completed the study (24 died) and 17 dropped out. Median IA was 41% in the first 20 weeks of follow-up and more than 60% in the eight weeks preceding death. Child/teenager self-report was 94%. Helping others, low burden procedures, incentives, and staff attitude were frequent reasons to enroll/participate. CONCLUSION: A PPC-RCT in children with advanced cancer was feasible, post-inclusion retention adequate; many families participated for altruistic reasons. Strategies that may further PPC-RCT feasibility include: increasing target population through large multicenter studies, approaching sicker patients, preventing exclusion of certain patient groups, and improving data collection at end of life. Copyright _ 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Dussel V; Orellana L; Soto N; Chen K; Ullrich C; Kang TI; Geyer JR; Feudtner C; Wolfe J
Journal Of Pain & Symptom Management
2015
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.12.010" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2014.12.010</a>
Goals of Care Among Parents of Children Receiving Palliative Care
child; Palliative Care; article; cohort analysis; controlled study; human; major clinical study; male; chronic disease; Patient Care Planning; quality of life; palliative therapy; comfort; demographics; life extension
Importance: While knowing the goals of care (GOCs) for children receiving pediatric palliative care (PPC) are crucial for guiding the care they receive, how parents prioritize these goals and how their priorities may change over time is not known. <br/>Objective(s): To determine parental prioritization of GOCs and patterns of change over time for parents of children receiving palliative care. <br/>Design, Setting, and Participant(s): A Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network's Shared Data and Research cohort study with data collected at 0, 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months in hospital, outpatient, or home settings from April 10, 2017, to February 15, 2022, at 7 PPC programs based at children's hospitals across the US. Participants included parents of patients, birth to 30 years of age, who received PPC services. Exposures: Analyses were adjusted for demographic characteristics, number of complex chronic conditions, and time enrolled in PPC. Main Outcomes: Parents' importance scores, as measured using a discrete choice experiment, of 5 preselected GOCs: seeking quality of life (QOL), health, comfort, disease modification, or life extension. Importance scores for the 5 GOCs summed to 100. <br/>Result(s): A total of 680 parents of 603 patients reported on GOCs. Median patient age was 4.4 (IQR, 0.8-13.2) years and 320 patients were male (53.1%). At baseline, parents scored QOL as the most important goal (mean score, 31.5 [SD, 8.4]), followed by health (26.3 [SD, 7.5]), comfort (22.4 [SD, 11.7]), disease modification (10.9 [SD, 9.2]), and life extension (8.9 [SD, 9.9]). Importantly, parents varied substantially in their baseline scores for each goal (IQRs more than 9.4), but across patients in different complex chronic conditions categories, the mean scores varied only slightly (means differ 8.7 or less). For each additional study month since PPC initiation, QOL was scored higher by 0.06 (95% CI, 0.04-0.08) and comfort scored higher by 0.3 (95% CI, 0-0.06), while the importance score for life extension decreased by 0.07 (95% CI, 0.04-0.09) and disease modification by 0.02 (95% CI, 0-0.04); health scores did not significantly differ from PPC initiation. <br/>Conclusions and Relevance: Parents of children receiving PPC placed the highest value on QOL, but with considerable individual-level variation and substantial change over time. These findings emphasize the importance of reassessing GOCs with parents to guide appropriate clinical intervention.
Feudtner C; Beight LJ; Boyden JY; Hill DL; Hinds PS; Johnston EE; Friebert SE; Bogetz JF; Kang TI; Hall M; Nye RT; Wolfe J
JAMA Pediatrics
2023
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.1602" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.1602</a>
Good-parent beliefs of parents of seriously ill children
adolescent; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; infant; Male; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Questionnaires; Chronic disease; Child welfare; Acute Disease; Stress; Practice; Preschool; Adaptation; Psychological; Attitudes; Newborn; Health Knowledge; Philadelphia
IMPORTANCE: Parents' beliefs about what they need to do to be a good parent when their children are seriously ill influence their medical decisions, and better understanding of these beliefs may improve decision support. OBJECTIVE: To assess parents' perceptions regarding the relative importance of 12 good-parent attributes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional, discrete-choice experiment was conducted at a children's hospital. Participants included 200 parents of children with serious illness. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Ratings of 12 good-parent attributes, with subsequent use of latent class analysis to identify groups of parents with similar ratings of attributes, and ascertainment of whether membership in a particular group was associated with demographic or clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The highest-ranked good-parent attribute was making sure that my child feels loved, followed by focusing on my child's health, making informed medical care decisions, and advocating for my child with medical staff. We identified 4 groups of parents with similar patterns of good-parent-attribute ratings, which we labeled as: child feels loved (n=68), child's health (n=56), advocacy and informed (n=55), and spiritual well-being (n=21). Compared with the other groups, the child's health group reported more financial difficulties, was less educated, and had a higher proportion of children with new complex, chronic conditions. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Parents endorse a broad range of beliefs that represent what they perceive they should do to be a good parent for their seriously ill child. Common patterns of how parents prioritize these attributes exist, suggesting future research to better understand the origins and development of good-parent beliefs among these parents. More important, engaging parents individually regarding what they perceive to be the core duties they must fulfill to be a good parent may enable more customized and effective decision support.
2015-01
Feudtner C; Walter JK; Faerber JA; Hill DL; Carroll KW; Mollen CJ; Miller VA; Morrison WE; Munson DA; Kang T; Hinds PS
Jama Pediatrics
2015
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.2341" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.2341</a>
Good-Parent Beliefs: Research, Concept, and Clinical Practice
administration; communication skills; hospice; interpersonal skills; palliative medicine; Parent; practice management
Parents of ill children have willingly identified their personal beliefs about what they should do or focus on to fulfill their own internal definition of being a good parent for their child. This observation has led to the development of the good-parent beliefs concept over the past decade. A growing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research base has explored the ways that good-parent beliefs guide family decision-making and influence family relationships. Parents have expressed comfort in speaking about their good-parent beliefs. Whether parents achieve their unique good-parent beliefs definition affects their sense of whether they did a good job in their role of parenting their ill child. In this state-of-the-art article, we offer an overview of the good-parent beliefs concept over the past decade, addressing what is currently known and gaps in what we know, and explore how clinicians may incorporate discussions about the good-parent beliefs into clinical practice.
Weaver MS; October T; Feudtner C; Hinds PS
Pediatrics
2020
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-4018" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1542/peds.2019-4018</a>
Guidance on forgoing life-sustaining medical treatment
Apparent Life Threatening Event/th [therapy]; Life-sustaining Medical Treatment; Medical Procedures; Practice Guideline; Article; Awareness; Caregiver; Child Abuse; Child Care; Clinical Decision Making; Comatose Patient; Consensus; Consultation; Critical Illness/th [therapy]; Death; Death By Neurologic Criteria; Developmental Disorder/th [therapy]; Disease Burden; Disease Course; Ethical Decision Making; Extremely Low Gestational Age; Family Decision Making; Family Stress; Foster Care; Gestational Age; Goal Attainment; Health Belief; High Risk Population; Human; Hydration; Imminent Death; Informed Consent; Intensive Care; Interpersonal Communication; Legal Aspect; Medical Ethics; Medical Expert; Medical Information; Medically Administered Nutrition And Hydration; Medical Specialist; Neglect; Neurologic Disease/di [diagnosis]; Nutrition; Oxygenation; Pain/th [therapy]; Palliative Therapy; Patient Care Planning; Pediatrician; Priority Journal; Prognosis; Quality Of Life; Resuscitation; Shared Decision Making; Social Support; Spiritual Care; Survival; Teamwork; Terminal Care; Tissue Perfusion; Uncertain Prognosis
Pediatric health care is practiced with the goal of promoting the best interests of the child. Treatment generally is rendered under a presumption in favor of sustaining life. However, in some circumstances, the balance of benefits and burdens to the child leads to an assessment that forgoing life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT) is ethically supportable or advisable. Parents are given wide latitude in decision-making concerning end-of-life care for their children in most situations. Collaborative decision-making around LSMT is improved by thorough communication among all stakeholders, including medical staff, the family, and the patient, when possible, throughout the evolving course of the patient's illness. Clear communication of overall goals of care is advised to promote agreed-on plans, including resuscitation status. Perceived disagreement among the team of professionals may be stressful to families. At the same time, understanding the range of professional opinions behind treatment recommendations is critical to informing family decision-making. Input from specialists in palliative care, ethics, pastoral care, and other disciplines enhances support for families and medical staff when decisions to forgo LSMT are being considered. Understanding specific applicability of institutional, regional, state, and national regulations related to forgoing LSMT is important to practice ethically within existing legal frameworks. This guidance represents an update of the 1994 statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics on forgoing LSMT.
Weise KL; Okun AL; Carter BS; Christian CW; Katz AL; Laventhal N; MacAuley RC; Moon MR; Opel DJ; Statter MB; Davies D; Dell ML; Diekema DS; Klipstein S; Elster N; Rivera F; Feudtner C; Boss RD; Hauer JM; Humphrey LM; Klick J; Linebarger JS; Parker S; Lord B; Imaizumi S; Guinn-Jones M; Flaherty EG; Gavril AR; Idzerda SM; Laskey A; Legano LA; Leventhal JM; Fortson BL; MacMillan H; Stedt E; Hurley TP
Pediatrics
2017
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<a class="aap-doi-text" href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1905" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.2017-1905</a>
Home-Based Care for Children with Serious Illness: Ecological Framework and Research Implications
Boyden JY; Hill DL; LaRagione G; Wolfe J; Feudtner C
Children
2022
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/children9081115">10.3390/children9081115</a>
Hopeful thinking and level of comfort regarding providing pediatric palliative care: A survey of hospital nurses
Nurses
2007
Feudtner C; Santucci G; Feinstein J; Snyder CR; Rourke MT; Kang T
Pediatrics
2007
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-1048" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.2006-1048</a>
Hospital care for children and young adults in the last year of life: a population-based study
Child; Female; Humans; infant; Male; Adult; Hospital Mortality; Age Factors; Length of Stay; adolescent; Preschool; P.H.S.; Research Support; U.S. Gov't; Palliative Care/organization & administration; infant; Newborn; ICU Decision Making; Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data; Terminally Ill/statistics & numerical data; Terminal Care/utilization; Chronic Disease/classification/mortality/therapy; Washington/epidemiology
BACKGROUND: To help design population-based pediatric palliative care services, we sought to describe the hospital care received in the last year of life by children and young adults who died. We also determined the proportion with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) and tested whether the use of hospital services increased as the date of death drew nearer. METHODS: For all deaths occurring under 25 years of age from 1990 to 1996 in Washington State, USA, we linked death certificate information to hospital utilization records and analyzed the timing and duration of hospitalizations and the nature of hospital procedures during the year prior to death. RESULTS: Of the 8 893 deaths, 25 % had CCCs. Among infants with CCCs, 84 % were hospitalized at the time of death and 50 % had been mechanically ventilated during their terminal admission. Among the 458 CCC neonates dying under a week of age, 92% of all days of life were spent in the hospital; among the 172 CCC neonates dying during the second to fourth weeks of life, 85 % of all days of life were spent hospitalized; among the 286 CCC infants dying during the second to twelfth month of life, 41 % of all days of life were spent hospitalized. Among children and young adults with CCCs, 55 % were hospitalized at the time of death, and 19 % had been mechanically ventilated during their terminal admission. For these older patients, the median number of days spent in the hospital during the year preceding death was 18, yet less than a third of this group was hospitalized at any point in time until the last week of their lives. The rate of hospital use increased as death drew near. For subjects who had received hospital care, 44 % had governmental insurance as the source of primary payment. CONCLUSIONS: Infants who died spent a substantial proportion of their lives in hospitals, whereas children and adolescents who died from CCCs predominantly lived outside of the hospital during the last year of life. To serve these patients, pediatric palliative and end-of-life care will have to be provided in an integrated, coordinated manner both in hospitals and home communities.
2003
Feudtner C; DiGiuseppe DL; Neff JM
Bmc Medicine
2003
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-1-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1186/1741-7015-1-3</a>
Hospital Use In The Last Year Of Life For Children With Life-threatening Complex Chronic Conditions
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although many adults experience resource-intensive and costly health care in the last year of life, less is known about these health care experiences in children with life-threatening complex chronic conditions (LT-CCCs). We assessed hospital resource use in children by type and number of LT-CCCs. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 1252 children with LT-CCCs, ages 1 to 18 years, who died in 2012 within 40 US children’s hospitals of the Pediatric Health Information System database. LT-CCCs were identified with International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Using generalized linear models, we assessed hospital admissions, days, costs, and interventions (mechanical ventilation and surgeries) in the last year of life by type and number of LT-CCCs. RESULTS: In the last year of life, children with LT-CCCs experienced a median of 2 admissions (interquartile range [IQR] 1–5), 27 hospital days (IQR 7–84), and $142 562 (IQR $45 270–$410 087) in hospital costs. During the terminal admission, 76% (n = 946) were mechanically ventilated; 36% (n = 453) underwent surgery. Hospital use was greatest (P < .001) among children with hematologic/immunologic conditions (99 hospital days [IQR 51–146]; cost = $504 145 [IQR $250 147–$879 331]) and children with ≥3 LT-CCCs (75 hospital days [IQR 28–132]; cost = $341 222 [IQR $146 698–$686 585]). CONCLUSIONS: Hospital use for children with LT-CCCs in the last year of life varies significantly across the type and number of conditions. Children with hematologic/immunologic or multiple conditions have the greatest hospital use. This information may be useful for clinicians striving to improve care for children with LT-CCCs nearing the end of life.
Ananth P; Melvin P; Feudtner C; Wolfe J; Berry JG
Pediatrics
2015
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10.1542/peds.2015-0260
Identifying Indicators Of Quality Pediatric Palliative Care: A Systematic Review
Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is a relatively new but rapidly expanding specialty area with a variety of models of care provision. Identification and validation of quality indicators specific to PPC is essential to accurately monitor and assess the quality of care provided to children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Objectives: We conducted a systematic review to identify structure, process and outcome indicators of quality palliative care for children with life-threatening conditions and their families, and evaluate how these indicators are measured. Methods: We conducted our search using three electronic databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase) and a combination of the following key word terms: palliative care, healthcare quality, and quality assessment / improvement / measurement / metrics or preferred practices. Results were limited to studies in children, aged 0-18 years. Book chapters, theses and conference abstracts were excluded. Titles and abstracts were reviewed for relevance, followed by full article review for all retained articles. Two reviewers were involved at each level of review. Results: After removal of duplicates, 5909 titles and abstracts were screened for relevance, 1322 full articles were reviewed, and 121 articles were included in the final review. Key indicators included: availability of specialised PPC services (including bereavement care); proportion of children suffering from a variety of symptoms; proportion of families with documented discussions of goals of care; proportion of children dying in their preferred location; and proportion of parents satisfied with PPC service provision. Conclusions: There are a number of indicators and associated measures for assessing the quality of pediatric palliative care, however further work is required to validate these indicators and identify additional outcome indicators. Identification of key quality indicators provides a foundation for critical validation work and assessment of the impact of interventions designed to improve the quality of pediatric palliative care.
Duc J; Widger K; Johnston K; Rapoport A; Siden H; Feudtner C; Wolfe J
Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management
2016
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.10.294
Improving the Care of Children With Advanced Cancer by Using an Electronic Patient-Reported Feedback Intervention: Results From the PediQUEST Randomized Controlled Trial
Child; Female; Humans; Male; Palliative Care; Neoplasms; Treatment Outcome; Electronic Health Records; Pilot Projects; Symptom Assessment; Feedback; Intervention Studies; Sickness Impact Profile; quality of life; Preschool
Purpose This study aimed to determine whether feeding back patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to providers and families of children with advanced cancer improves symptom distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patients and Methods This study was a parallel, multicentered pilot randomized controlled trial. At most once per week, children age ≥ 2 years old with advanced cancer or their parent completed the computer-based Pediatric Quality of Life and Evaluation of Symptoms Technology (PediQUEST) survey consisting of age- and respondent-adapted versions of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL4.0), and an overall Sickness question. In the intervention group (n = 51), oncologists and families received printed reports summarizing PROs; e-mails were sent to oncologists and subspecialists when predetermined scores were exceeded. No feedback was provided in the control group (n = 53). Primary outcomes included linear trends of MSAS, PedsQL4.0 total and subscale scores, and Sickness scores during 20 weeks of follow-up, along with child, parent, and provider satisfaction with PediQUEST feedback. Results Feedback did not significantly affect average MSAS, PedsQL4.0, or Sickness score trends. Post hoc subgroup analyses among children age ≥ 8 years who survived 20 weeks showed that feedback improved PedsQL4.0 emotional (+8.1; 95% CI, 1.8 to 14.4) and Sickness (−8.2; 95% CI, −14.2 to −2.2) scores. PediQUEST reports were valued by children, parents, and providers and contributed at least sometimes to physician initiation of a psychosocial consult (56%). Conclusion Although routine feedback of PROs did not significantly affect the child’s symptoms or HRQoL, changes were in expected directions and improvements observed in emotional HRQoL through exploratory analyses were encouraging. Importantly, children, parents, and providers value PRO feedback.
2014-03
Wolfe J; Orellana L; Cook EF; Ullrich CK; Kang TI; Geyer JR; Feudtner C; Weeks Jane C; Dussel V
Journal Of Clinical Oncology
2014
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2013.51.5981" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1200/JCO.2013.51.5981</a>
Influence of Genetic Information on Neonatologists' Decisions: A Psychological Experiment
Attitude of health personnel; Decision making; Infants; Neonatologists; Physicians
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Genetic testing is expanding among ill neonates, yet the influence of genetic results on medical decision-making is not clear. With this study, we sought to determine how different types of genetic information with uncertain implications for prognosis influence clinicians' decisions to recommend intensive versus palliative care. METHODS: We conducted a national study of neonatologists using a split sample experimental design. The questionnaire contained 4 clinical vignettes. Participants were randomly assigned to see one of 2 versions that varied only regarding whether they included the following genetic findings: (1) a variant of uncertain significance; (2) a genetic diagnosis that affects neurodevelopment but not acute survival; (3) a genetic versus nongenetic etiology of equally severe pathology; (4) a pending genetic testing result. Physicians answered questions about recommendations they would make for the patient described in each vignette. RESULTS: Vignette versions that included a variant of uncertain significance, a diagnosis foreshadowing neurodevelopmental impairment, or a genetic etiology of disease were all associated with an increased likelihood of recommending palliative rather than intensive care. A pending genetic test result did not have a significant effect on care recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study of hypothetical cases suggest neonatologists apply uncertain genetic findings or those that herald neurodevelopmental disability in problematic ways. As genetic testing expands, understanding how it is used in decision-making and educating clinicians regarding appropriate use are paramount.
Callahan KP; Flibotte J; Skraban C; Wild KT; Joffe S; Munson D; Feudtner C
Pediatrics
2022
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052130" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1542/peds.2021-052130</a>
Integration of Palliative Care Into the Care of Children With Serious Illness
2014-08
Kang TI; Munson DA; Hwang J; Feudtner C
Pediatrics In Review / American Academy Of Pediatrics
2014
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/pir.35-8-318" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/pir.35-8-318</a>
Navigating Decisional Discord: The Pediatrician's Role When Child and Parents Disagree
Decision Making; Dissent And Disputes; Parental Consent; Parent-child Relations; Pediatricians; Physician's Role; Adolescent; Child; Consensus; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Competency; Models Psychological
From the time when children enter the preteen years onward, pediatric medical decision-making can entail a complex interaction between child, parents, and pediatrician. When the child and parents disagree regarding medical decisions, the pediatrician has the challenging task of guiding the family to a final decision. Unresolved discord can affect family cohesiveness, patient adherence, and patient self-management. In this article, we outline 3 models for the pediatrician's role in the setting of decisional discord: deference, advocative, and arbitrative. In the deference model, the pediatrician prioritizes parental decision-making authority. In the advocative model, the pediatrician advocates for the child's preference in decision-making so long as the child's decision is medically reasonable. In the arbitrative model, the pediatrician works to resolve the conflict in a balanced fashion. Although each model has advantages and disadvantages, the arbitrative model should serve as the initial model in nearly all settings. The arbitrative model is likely to reach the most beneficial decision in a manner that maintains family cohesiveness by respecting the authority of parents and the developing autonomy of children. We also highlight, however, occasions when the deference or advocative models may be more appropriate. Physicians should keep all 3 models available in their professional toolkit and develop the wisdom to deploy the right model for each particular clinical situation.
Sisk BA; DuBois J; Kodish E; Wolfe J; Feudtner C
Pediatrics
2017
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10.1542/peds.2017-0234
Parent Perceptions of Team-Delivered Care for Children with Advanced Cancer: A report from the PediQUEST study
Childhood Cancer; Interdisciplinary Care; Interprofessional Healthcare Teams; Multidisciplinary Care; Pediatric Oncology; Psychosocial Oncology; Team-Delivered Care
CONTEXT: Childhood cancer care is delivered by interprofessional healthcare teams however little is known about how parents perceive overall team-delivered care (TDC). OBJECTIVES: We sought to describe parent perceptions of TDC and associated factors, including care rendered by individual clinicians, teamwork, information consistency, and patient and parent characteristics. METHODS: Cross-sectional surveys were distributed to parents of 104 children with recurrent/refractory cancer enrolled in a multi-site symptom management trial. The primary outcome, TDC, was parent report of care quality delivered by the child's care team during the preceding 3 months. Likert scaled items (excellent/very good/good/fair/poor) queried care quality delivered by individual clinicians, perceived teamwork and other factors. Factors associated with parent perceptions of "excellent" TDC were identified using Fisher's Exact test. RESULTS: Eighty-six parents (83%) responded. Over the preceding 3 months, 63% (n=54) of parents reported excellent TDC. However, only 47% (n=40) described their care team's teamwork as excellent. Approximately one-quarter (24%) described care rendered by their child's oncologist as less-than-excellent. Among parents who reported psychosocial clinician involvement (71%, n=60), only 43% described this care as excellent. Individually, excellent care from each clinician type (oncologist, psychosocial clinician, primary nurse) was associated with excellent TDC (all p
Feraco AM; Ananth P; Dussel V; Al-Sayegh H; Ma C; Rosenberg AR; Feudtner C; Wolfe J
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.05.019" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.05.019</a>
Parent Priorities in End-of-Life Care for Children With Cancer
child; Terminal Care; terminal care; female; human; death; child parent relation; psychology; cross-sectional study; middle aged; neoplasm/th [Therapy]; Bayes theorem
Importance: Robust quality measures to benchmark end-of-life care for children with cancer do not currently exist; 28 candidate patient-centered quality measures were previously developed. Objective(s): To prioritize quality measures among parents who lost a child to cancer. Design, Setting, and Participant(s): This survey study was conducted using an electronic, cross-sectional discrete choice experiment (DCE) with maximum difference scaling from January to June 2021 in the US. In each of 21 questions in the DCE, participants were presented with a set of 4 quality measures and were asked to select the most and least important measures within each set. All 28 quality measures were presented an equal number of times in different permutations. In the volunteer sample, 69 eligible bereaved parents enrolled in the study; 61 parents completed the DCE (participation rate, 88.4%). Main Outcomes and Measures: Using choices participants made, a hierarchical bayesian multinomial logistic regression was fit to derive mean importance scores with 95% credible intervals (95% Crs) for each quality measure, representing the overall probability of a quality measure being selected as most important. Importance scores were rescaled proportionally from 0 to 100, with the sum of scores for all quality measures adding up to 100. This enabled interpretation of scores as the relative importance of quality measures. Result(s): Participants included 61 bereaved parents (median [range] age, 48 [24-74] years; 55 individuals self-identified as women [90.2%]; 1 American Indian or Alaska Native [1.6%], 1 Asian [1.6%], 2 Black or African American [3.3%], 1 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 58 White [91.8%]; 58 not Hispanic or Latinx [95.1%]). Highest-priority quality measures by mean importance score included having a child's symptoms treated well (9.25 [95% Cr, 9.06-9.45]), feeling that a child's needs were heard by the health care team (8.39 [95% Cr, 8.05-8.73]), and having a goal-concordant end-of-life experience (7.45 [95% Cr, 6.84-8.05]). Lowest-priority quality measures included avoiding chemotherapy (0.33 [95% Cr, 0.21-0.45]), provision of psychosocial support for parents (1.01 [95% Cr, 0.57-1.45]), and avoiding the intensive care unit (1.09 [95% Cr, 0.74-1.43]). Rank-ordering measures by mean importance revealed that symptom management was 9 times more important to parents than psychosocial support for themselves. Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that bereaved parents prioritized end-of-life quality measures focused on symptom management and goal-concordant care while characterizing quality measures assessing their own psychosocial support and their child's hospital resource use as substantially less important. These findings suggest that future research should explore innovative strategies to measure care attributes that matter most to families of children with advanced cancer.
Ananth P; Lindsay M; Mun S; McCollum S; Shabanova V; de Oliveira S; Pitafi S; Kirch R; Ma X; Gross CP; Boyden JY; Feudtner C; Wolfe J
JAMA Network Open
2023
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.13503" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.13503</a>
Parent-Reported Symptoms and Medications Used Among Children With Severe Neurological Impairment
Infant; Child; Comorbidity; Female; Male; Child Preschool; Adolescence; Data Analysis Software; Human; Confidence Intervals; Descriptive Statistics; Record Review; Health Resource Utilization; Cross Sectional Studies; Funding Source; Scales; Severity of Illness; Central Nervous System Agents -- Therapeutic Use; Nervous System Diseases -- Epidemiology -- In Adolescence; Nervous System Diseases -- Epidemiology -- In Infancy and Childhood; Nervous System Diseases -- Symptoms; Peripheral Nervous System Agents -- Therapeutic Use; Polypharmacy
Key Points: Question: In children with severe neurological impairment (SNI) who cannot self-report, can comprehensive parent-reported symptom assessments inform medication use? Findings: In this cross-sectional study of 100 children with SNI and polypharmacy, parents reported that children experienced multiple concurrent high-distress symptoms, notably irritability (65.0%), insomnia (55.0%), and pain (54.0%). Although higher symptom burdens were associated with increasing polypharmacy, opportunities existed to optimize pharmacotherapy; for example, among 54.0% of children with pain, only 61.0% were prescribed an analgesic. Meaning: Comprehensive parent-reported symptom data paired with medication data could help clinicians identify targets for personalized symptom management, including underrecognized or undertreated symptoms. This cross-sectional study examines whether higher global symptom scores are associated with use of more medications and assesses associations between specific symptoms and medications among children with severe neurological impairment. Importance: Children with severe neurological impairment (SNI) often take multiple medications to treat problematic symptoms. However, for children who cannot self-report symptoms, no system exists to assess multiple symptoms and their association with medication use. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of 28 distinct symptoms, test whether higher global symptom scores (GSS) were associated with use of more medications, and assess the associations between specific symptoms and medications. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019, using structured parent-reported symptom data paired with clinical and pharmacy data, at a single-center, large, hospital-based special health care needs clinic. Participants included children aged 1 to 18 years with SNI and 5 or more prescribed medications. Data analysis was performed from April to June 2020. Exposure: During routine clinical visits, parent-reported symptoms were collected using the validated 28-symptom Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) and merged with clinical and pharmacy data. Main Outcomes and Measures: Symptom prevalence, counts, and GSS (scored 0-100, with 100 being the worst) were calculated, and the association of GSS with medications was examined. To evaluate associations between symptom-medication pairs, the proportion of patients with a symptom who used a medication class or specific medication was calculated. Results: Of 100 patients, 55.0% were boys, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 9 (5-12) years, 62.0% had 3 or more complex chronic conditions, 76.0% took 10 or more medications, and none were able to complete the MSAS themselves. Parents reported a median (IQR) of 7 (4-10) concurrent active symptoms. The median (IQR) GSS was 12.1 (5.4-20.8) (range, 0.0-41.2) and the GSS was 9.8 points (95% CI, 5.5-14.1 points) higher for those with worse recent health than usual. Irritability (65.0%), insomnia (55.0%), and pain (54.0%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Each 10-point GSS increase was associated with 12% (95% CI, 4%-19%) higher medication counts, adjusted for age and complex chronic condition count. Among the 54.0% of children with reported pain, 61.0% were prescribed an analgesic. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that children with SNI reportedly experience substantial symptom burdens and that higher symptom scores are associated with increased medication use. Paired symptom-medication data may help clinicians identify targets for personalized symptom management, including underrecognized or undertreated symptoms.
Feinstein JA; Feudtner C; Blackmer AB; Valuck RJ; Fairclough DL; Holstein J; Gregoire LA; Samay S; Kempe A
JAMA Network Open
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.29082" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.29082</a>
Parental Concordance Regarding Problems and Hopes for Seriously Ill Children: A Two-Year Cohort Study
pediatrics; Attitude to Health; Adolescent; Adult; Attitude to Death; Child; Cohort Studies; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Infant; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Only Child; Parents/ psychology; Pediatrics; Prevalence; Quality of Life/ psychology; Terminal Care/ psychology; Young Adult; decision-making; problems; Parent-Child Relations; Hope; Preschool; serious illness; child; female; male; young adult; adult; Child Health/statistics & numerical data; Critical Illness/epidemiology/ psychology; hopes; parental concordance; Philadelphia/epidemiology
CONTEXT: Parents of a seriously ill child may have different concerns and hopes for their child, and these concerns and hopes may change over time. OBJECTIVES: In a mixed-method prospective cohort of parental dyads of children with serious illness, to describe the major problems and hopes perceived for their child, examine the degree of concordance between parents, and assess whether prevalence and concordance change over time. METHODS: Eighty-four parents (42 dyads) of seriously ill children reported the major problems and hopes for their children at baseline. Thirty-two parents (16 dyads) answered the same questions at 24 months. Problems and hopes were classified into nine domains. Observed concordance was calculated between parents on each domain. Data for parents of 11 children who died are reported separately. RESULTS: The most common major problem and hope domains at baseline were physical body, quality of life, future health and well-being, and medical care. Parental dyads demonstrated a moderately high percentage of concordance (69%) regarding reported problem domains and a slightly lower percentage of concordance on hopes (61%), with higher concordance for more common domains. Domain prevalence and concordance changed considerably at 24 months. Parents of children who later died showed markedly different patterns of domain prevalence and more extreme patterns of concordance. CONCLUSION: Parents of children with serious illness may have different perspectives regarding major problems and hopes, and these perspectives change over time. Parents of sicker children are more likely to be in either complete agreement or disagreement regarding the problems and hopes they identify.
Hill DL; Nathanson PG; Fenderson RM; Carroll KW; Feudtner C
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2017
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.11.007" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.11.007</a>
Parental explicit heuristics in decision-making for children with life-threatening illnesses
Child; Female; Humans; Male; Young Adult; Cohort Studies; Prospective Studies; Professional-Family Relations; Communication; Choice Behavior; Problem Solving; Hospitals; Pediatric; adolescent; Preschool; Psychological; decision making; infant; Parents/psychology; Palliative Care/psychology; Philadelphia; Parent caregivers; Chronic Disease/psychology/therapy; Interview; Judgment; Aphorisms and Proverbs as Topic; Critical Illness/psychology/therapy
OBJECTIVE: To identify and illustrate common explicit heuristics (decision-making aids or shortcuts expressed verbally as terse rules of thumb, aphorisms, maxims, or mantras and intended to convey a compelling truth or guiding principle) used by parents of children with life-threatening illnesses when confronting and making medical decisions. METHODS: Prospective cross-sectional observational study of 69 parents of 46 children who participated in the Decision-making in Pediatric Palliative Care Study between 2006 and 2008 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Parents were guided individually through a semistructured in-depth interview about their experiences and thoughts regarding making medical decisions on behalf of their ill children, and the transcribed interviews were qualitatively analyzed. RESULTS: All parents in our study employed explicit heuristics in interviews about decision-making for their children, with the number of identified explicit heuristics used by an individual parent ranging from tens to hundreds. The heuristics served 5 general functions: (1) to depict or facilitate understanding of a complex situation; (2) to clarify, organize, and focus pertinent information and values; (3) to serve as a decision-making compass; (4) to communicate with others about a complex topic; and (5) to justify a choice. CONCLUSIONS: Explicit heuristics played an important role in decision-making and communication about decision-making in our population of parents. Recognizing explicit heuristics in parent interactions and understanding their content and functions can aid clinicians in their efforts to partner with parents in the decision-making process.
Renjilian CB; Womer JW; Carroll KW; Kang T; Feudtner C
Pediatrics
2013
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-1957" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1542/peds.2012-1957</a>
Parenting in Childhood Life-Threatening Illness: A Mixed-Methods Study
child parent relation; palliative therapy; Child; Decision Making; Only Child; decision making; human experiment; sibling; child; human; female; male; article; controlled study; perception; childhood; interview; problem solving; social work
Background: Parenting children with life-threatening illness (LTI) and their healthy siblings requires parents to consider their various needs. Objective and Methods: We conducted a concurrent, cross-sectional mixed-methods study to describe challenges parents face prioritizing tasks and goals for each child with qualitative data, compare parents' tasks and goals for children with LTI and healthy siblings with quantitative data, and describe parenting in terms of the process of prioritizing tasks and goals for all children in the family. Results: Participants included 31 parents of children with LTI who have healthy siblings and were admitted to a children's hospital. Qualitative interviews revealed how parents managed children's needs and their perceptions of the toll it takes. Quantitative data revealed that parents prioritized "making sure my child feels loved" highest for ill and healthy children. Other goals for healthy siblings focused on maintaining emotional connection and regularity within the family and for ill children focused on illness management. Mixed-methods analysis revealed that parents engaged in a process decision making and traded-off competing demands by considering needs which ultimately transformed the meaning of parenting. Discussion: Future research can further examine trade-offs and associated effects, how to support parent problem-solving and decision-making around trade-offs, and how to best offer social services alongside illness-directed care.
Mooney-Doyle K; Deatrick JA; Ulrich CM; Meghani SH; Feudtner C
Journal of Palliative Medicine
2018
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2017.0054" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1089/jpm.2017.0054</a>
Parents as Advocates for Pediatric Palliative Care
Advocacy; Palliative care; Parents; Pediatrics
Caring for a child with a serious or life-limiting illness presents many challenges for families and health care providers. Through that experience (and, many times, as it ends), parents are compelled to find and make meaning from their ultimate loss and the many losses along the way. In this Advocacy Case Study, we describe the experiences that led a bereaved mother to seek to harness the insights from her own family's loss to help support other families facing the challenges and complexities of a child's serious illness. Her family initially established a family foundation to advocate for palliative care. She later partnered with her family's general pediatrician and the American Academy of Pediatrics to educate providers and bring parent voices to health care provider discussions. This work eventually led to the development of the Courageous Parents Network, a nonprofit focused on making these parent and provider voices widely available to families and providers through a Web-based collection of videos, blogs, podcasts, and printable guides. Through these insights, the organization addresses feelings of isolation, anxiety, and grief. In addition, these voices illustrate the power and benefits of the growing acceptance of pediatric palliative care practices. Important lessons learned through these efforts include: (1) the power of stories for validation, healing, and understanding; (2) opportunity to extend the reach of pediatric palliative care through provider education and skill-building; (3) critical importance of the parent-provider advocacy collaboration; and (4) necessity of market testing and continuous improvement.
Lord BT; Morrison W; Goldstein RD; Feudtner C
Pediatrics
2021
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052054" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1542/peds.2021-052054</a>
Pediatric complex chronic conditions classification system version 2: updated for ICD-10 and complex medical technology dependence and transplantation
2014
Feudtner C; Feinstein J; Zhong W; Hall M; Dai D
Bmc Pediatrics
2014
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
Pediatric Deaths Attributable to Complex Chronic Conditions: A Population-Based Study of Washington State, 1980–1997
complex chronic conditions; Mortality/trends; pediatric deaths; population-based study
Objectives. Advances in medical technology and public health are changing the causes and patterns of pediatric mortality. To better inform health care planning for dying children, we sought to determine if an increasing proportion of pediatric deaths were attributable to an underlying complex chronic condition (CCC), what the typical age of CCC-associated deaths was, and whether this age was increasing. Design. Population-based retrospective cohort from 1980 to 1997, compiled from Washington State annual censuses and death certificates of children 0 to 18 years old. Main Outcome Measures. For each of 9 categories of CCCs, the counts of death, mortality rates, and ages of death. Results. Nearly one-quarter of the 21 617 child deaths during this period were attributable to a CCC. Death rates for the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), CCCs, and all other causes each declined, but less so for CCCs. Among infants who died because of causes other than injury or SIDS, 31% of the remaining deaths were attributable to a CCC in 1980 and 41% by 1997; for deaths in children 1 year of age and older, CCCs were cited in 53% in 1980, versus 58% in 1997. The median age of death for all CCCs was 4 months 9 days, with substantial differences among CCCs. No overall change in the age of death between 1980 to 1997 was found (nonparametric trend test). Conclusions. CCCs account for an increasing proportion of child deaths. The majority of these deaths occur during infancy, but the typical age varies by cause. These findings should help shape the design of support care services offered to children dying with chronic conditions and their families.
2000-07
Feudtner C; Christakis DA; Connell FA
Pediatrics
2000
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article