Cincinnati Children's Presents New Research at 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies

CINCINNATI, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will present several new studies May 1-4 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver.

Among them are studies showing that:

Vitamin D deficiency in Arab Women: Pregnant Arab women have an "extraordinarily high prevalence" of vitamin D deficiency – a potential health issue for them and their babies. The vitamin deficiency is largely due to how Arab women dress outdoors – preventing exposure of the skin to sunlight and subsequent vitamin D intake.

Racial Disparities in Emergency Room: Emergency room physicians are more likely to document sexual histories of black teen girls with symptoms of sexually transmitted infections than white teen girls with the same symptoms.  The result is that emergency physicians may be providing comparatively poorer treatment for white teen girls than black.

Medical Residents, Sleep Time and Patient Safety: Institute of Medicine guidelines restricting the number of hours medical residents can work may not result in the intended consequences of enhancing sleep and patient safety. The first study of these 2008 guidelines shows that average sleep time is unaffected and that work-life balance actually worsens.

Flu Vaccine and Birth Weights: Continuing its ground-breaking work on the effects of flu vaccines, a research team from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has discovered that birth weights increase for babies of women who are immunized for the flu.

Improved Outcomes, Reduced Cost: Preventing bloodstream infections in very low birth weight babies in newborn intensive care units could save lives and approximately $3,000 per patient. If an investment is made now to implement prevention strategies, the result will be healthier patients and cost savings which can be reinvested into further improving patient care.

Better Prescribing of ADHD Drugs: Children with ADHD who carry a specific type of dopamine receptor gene respond better to the drug methylphenidate (MPH) than those without the genotype. The research makes progress toward ending the guesswork now involved in prescribing effective ADHD medications that deliver the greatest symptom improvement and fewest side effects.

Tobacco Smoke and African American Children: Low levels of prenatal tobacco smoke exposure are associated with a higher risk of developmental problems for African American children than white children, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Home Injuries Reduced 70 Percent: A comprehensive effort to install safety devices in the homes of hundreds of infants and young children reduced modifiable injuries by 70 percent, most of which involved falls from stairways. This study is the first to look at the effect of equipment installation on injury reduction.

Bloodstream Infections Drop Due to QI Effort: Bloodstream infections associated with catheters can be significantly reduced through quality improvement efforts, possibly leading to better health outcomes and lives saved, decreased stay at the hospital and related costs.

Mothers, Breastfed Babies Lack Vitamin D: As many as two of three breastfeeding mothers in Cincinnati may have insufficient blood levels of Vitamin D, a concern that also affects three out of four one-month-old infants whose mothers breastfeed , according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

Improved Communication and Better Newborn Outcomes: Recommending that pregnant moms who are at high risk for preterm birth deliver at hospitals best equipped to handle the needs of their newborns is helping improve outcomes for very low birth weight infants in the Cincinnati area, according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

Using Computers to Prevent Preterm Births: Through computer analysis of geographical information, researchers believe they can provide optimal and targeted strategies for preventing preterm birth – and they have data from a study of Hamilton County, Ohio, to support their contention.

To see a complete news release for any of these topics, and individual embargo dates, go to http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/about/news/PAS-news-releases.htm

About Cincinnati Children's

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is one of 10 children's hospitals named to the Honor Roll in U.S. News and World Report's 2009-10 America's Best Children's Hospitals. It is ranked #1 for digestive disorders and highly ranked for its expertise in respiratory diseases, cancer, neonatal care, heart care, neurosurgery, diabetes, orthopedics, kidney disorders and urology. Cincinnati Children's is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Internationally recognized for quality and innovation by The Joint Commission, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, it has collaborations with hospitals and health systems around the world. . Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.

SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center