Monday, December 01, 2003

I think I can set this Blog up so that an email is sent whenever there is a post by me. To post responses, I will have to edit the email to me and insert text into the Blog.
Things are promising. Westchester Medical Center is very interested in setting up to act as lead agency. Hope to meet with the doctors from the Child Advocacy Center and the WMC Foundation grantsperson tomorrow....

Friday, August 15, 2003

OK, I'm here this would be nice to use if we remember to check it.
Kim

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

And this is how I described the workshop we're going to do for the mid-Hudson Association for the Education of the Young Child in October...

The SKIPPER Initiative is dedicated to increasing awareness about the danger of shaking young children and educating parents and caregivers about how they can help protect children from injury. The workshop will discuss the causes and consequences of shaking injuries, coping strategies and present a positive approach providers can use to work with parents or other caregivers to prevent injury. The workshop will meet the new Section 380-a requirement for provider education about Shaken Baby Syndrome.
I thought it might be good to post some of the articles and material I come across. Here's a recent study of SBS incidence in North Carolina that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this month...

A Population-Based Study of Inflicted Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children
Heather T. Keenan, MDCM, MPH; Desmond K. Runyan, MD, DrPH; Stephen W. Marshall, PhD; Mary Alice Nocera, RN, MSN; David F. Merten, MD; Sara H. Sinal, MD
JAMA. 2003;290:621-626.

Context Physical abuse is a leading cause of serious head injury and death in children aged 2 years or younger. The incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury (TBI) in US children is unknown.

Objective To determine the incidence of serious or fatal inflicted TBI in a defined US population of approximately 230 000 children aged 2 years or younger.

Design, Setting, and Subjects All North Carolina children aged 2 years or younger who were admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit or who died with a TBI in 2000 and 2001 were identified prospectively. Injuries were considered inflicted if accompanied by a confession or a medical and social service agency determination of abuse.

Main Outcome Measure Incidence of inflicted TBI. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to compare children with inflicted injuries with those with noninflicted injuries and with the general state population aged 2 years or younger.

Results A total of 152 cases of serious or fatal TBI were identified, with 80 (53%) incurring inflicted TBI. The incidence of inflicted traumatic brain injury in the first 2 years of life was 17.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.3-20.7) per 100 000 person-years. Infants had a higher incidence than children in the second year of life (29.7 [95% CI, 22.9-36.7] vs 3.8 [95% CI, 1.3-6.4] per 100 000 person-years). Boys had a higher incidence than girls (21.0 [95% CI, 15.1-26.6] vs 13.0 [95% CI, 8.4-17.7] per 100 000 person-years). Relative to the general population, children who incurred an increased risk of inflicted injury were born to young mothers (21 years), non–European American, or products of multiple births.

Conclusions In this population of North Carolina children, the incidence of inflicted TBI varied by characteristics of the injured children and their mothers. These data may be helpful for informing preventive interventions.
We've signed up to do the Rock and Rest tent at the DC Fair on Friday, 11-3. Mary Nettles said last year 400 people used the tent, so we figure we can leave some brochures, put up a sign or two and engage people in conversation.
Yes, it does! Now all we have to do is getting Peggy, kim, Ken and Kate and we're cooking. Of course, it might be over a low flame....

Saturday, August 09, 2003

This is a Blog. I thought it would be helpful to keep track of our on-line conversations about SBS prevention efforts.