Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the phases of the action research process involved in developing, implementing,\r\nand evaluating the Heart Beads program. The aim of the project is to enrich the hospital experience of children with cardiac\r\nconditions. Heart Beads involves children receiving unique beads specific to each cardiac treatment, procedure or event in\r\nrecognition of their experiences, and endurance. An action research approach, involving a partnership between clinicians and\r\nresearchers and emphasising the involvement of patients and their families, was used to guide theHeart Beads program. The project\r\nfollowed the five phases of action research: identification, investigation, program development, implementation, and evaluation.\r\nHeart Beads began as a small project which continues to grow in popularity and significance with children at a tertiary paediatric\r\nhospital in Sydney, Australia. The program is now being implemented nationwide with the vision that all Australian children\r\nhospitalised with cardiac conditions can benefit from Heart Beads....
Gastric teratomas are very rare embryonal neoplasms and accounts for less than 1% of all teratomas\r\noccurring in infants and children. It is usually seen in male infants who present with upper abdominal\r\nmass and commonly it is benign. This report describes a large immature grade II gastric teratoma in a\r\nmale newborn. The tumor was treated with total excision including part of the stomach...
Background: The epidemiology of intussusception, including its incidence, can vary between different countries.\r\nThe aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of childhood intussusception in Japan using data from a\r\nnationwide inpatient database.\r\nMethods: We screened the database for eligible cases = 18 years of age, who were coded with a discharge\r\ndiagnosis of intussusception (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision: K-561) between July to\r\nDecember in 2007 and 2008. We then selected cases according to Level 1 of the diagnostic certainty criteria\r\ndeveloped by the Brighton Collaboration Intussusception Working Group. We examined the demographics,\r\nmanagement, and outcomes of cases, and estimated the incidence of intussusception.\r\nResults: We identified 2,427 cases of intussusception. There were an estimated 2,000 cases of infantile\r\nintussusception annually in Japan, an incidence of 180-190 cases per 100,000 infants. The median age at diagnosis\r\nwas 17 months, and two-thirds of the patients were male. Treatment with an enema was successful in 93.0% of\r\ncases (2255/2427). The remainder required surgery. Secondary cases accounted for 3.1% (76/2427). Median length\r\nof hospital stay was 3 days. Of the 2,427 cases, we found 2 fatal cases associated with intussusception.\r\nConclusions: This is currently the largest survey of childhood intussusception in Asia using a standardized case\r\ndefinition. Our results provide an estimate of the baseline risk of intussusception in Japan, and it is higher than the\r\nrisk observed in other countries...
Background: Good infant growth is important for future health. Assessing growth is common in pediatric care all\r\nover the world, both at the population and individual level. There are few studies of birth weight and growth\r\nstudies comparing urban and rural communities in Vietnam. The first aim is to describe and compare the birth\r\nweight distributions and physical growth (weight and length) of children during their first year in one rural and\r\none urban area of Hanoi Vietnam. The second aim is to study associations between the anthropometric outcomes\r\nand indicators of the economic and educational situations.\r\nMethods: Totally 1,466 children, born from 1st March, 2009 to June 2010, were followed monthly from birth to 12\r\nmonths of age in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites; one rural and one urban. In all, 14,199\r\nmeasurements each of weight and length were made. Birth weight was recorded separately. Information about\r\ndemographic conditions, education, occupation and economic conditions of persons and households was\r\nobtained from household surveys. Fractional Polynomial models and standard statistical methods were used for\r\ndescription and analysis.\r\nResults: Urban infants have higher birth weight and gain weight faster than rural infants. The mean birth weight\r\nfor urban boys and girls were 3,298 grams and 3,203 grams as compared to 3,105 grams and 3,057 grams for rural\r\nchildren. At 90 days, the urban boys were estimated to be 4.1% heavier than rural boys. This difference increased\r\nto 7.2% at 360 days. The corresponding difference for girls was 3.4% and 10.5%. The differences for length were\r\ncomparatively smaller. Both birth weight and growth were statistically significantly and positively associated with\r\neconomic conditions and mother education.\r\nConclusion: Birth weight was lower and the growth, weight and length, considerably slower in the rural area, for\r\nboys as well as for girls. The results support the hypothesis that the rather drastic differences in maternal education\r\nand economic conditions lead to poor nutrition for mothers and children in turn causing inferior birth weight and\r\ngrowth....
Background: Clinicians are increasingly using electronic sources of evidence to support clinical decision-making;\r\nhowever, there are multiple demands on clinician time, and summarised and synthesised evidence is needed.\r\nClinical Answers (CA) have been developed to address this need; the CA is a synthesised evidence-based summary\r\nthat supports point-of-care clinical decision-making. The aim of this paper is to report on a survey used to test and\r\nimprove the CA format.\r\nMethods: An online survey was sent to pediatricians via e-mail and posted on a child health clinical standards\r\nwebsite. Quantitative data analysis consisted primarily of descriptive statistics; qualitative data analysis consisted of\r\ncontent analysis.\r\nResults: Eighty-three pediatricians responded to the survey. Most respondents found the CA useful or very useful\r\n(93%) and agreed or strongly agreed that the layout was effective and allowed them to quickly locate critical\r\ninformation (82%). Quantitative and qualitative data suggested that respondents thought there should be less\r\ndetail in the linked figures and tables (p = 0.0002), but overall respondents seemed to think there was an\r\nappropriate level of detail in most sections of the CA.\r\nConclusions: Based on the quantitative and qualitative survey responses, major and minor modifications to the CA\r\nformat were implemented, such as removing forest plots, adding links in each addendum to bring the user back\r\nto the front page, and adding an ââ?¬Ë?Implications for practiceââ?¬â?¢ section to the CA. Findings suggest that CAs will be a\r\nuseful tool for pediatricians; thus, the research team has now begun creating CAs to assist busy clinicians in their\r\nday-to-day clinical practice by providing high-quality information for decision-making at the point-of-care...
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