Introduction and Goals for the National Children's Study.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hirschfeld S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5827357 | biostudies-literature | 2017
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Introduction and Goals for the National Children's Study.
Frontiers in pediatrics 20180222
The National Children's Study (NCS) evolved in concept and planning to become an integrated systems based initiative to assess a full spectrum of health and capture the environmental factors and other influences that shape the trajectory of child development. The NCS built on prior work in health assessment, epidemiology, logistics, and methodology in order to address the broad goals of its mandate. To develop the specific methods and tools to conduct a study in multiple environments outside con ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:With its coordinated longitudinal biologic, environmental-exposure, and phenotypic data and samples, the National Children's Study is aiming to provide an important resource for understanding children's growth, development, and health.
| S-EPMC5101954 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Motivational factors such as social goals are important features of developing social adjustment, and thus researchers studying social adjustment need psychometrically sound measures of social goals. A valid measure of social goals for English-speaking youth is lacking. Such a measure would increase understanding of children's social adjustment and allow for testing developmental models of social goals and interpersonal functioning. The authors' aim was to revise the Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children (IGI-C) for an English-speaking sample and examine its validity. The revised IGI-C (IGI-CR) fit a circumplex model and performed as expected with most external criterion variables examined. In addition, some differences were observed across males and females, offering insights into gender differences in social goals. Results support the IGI-CR as a sound measure.
| S-EPMC3204334 | biostudies-other
Project description:The National Children's Study (NCS) is a prospective epidemiological study in the USA tasked with identifying a nationally representative sample of 100,000 children, and following them from their gestation until they are 21 years of age. The objective of the study is to measure environmental and genetic influences on growth, development, and health. Determination of the ancestry of these NCS participants is important for assessing the diversity of study participants and for examining the effect of ancestry on various health outcomes.We estimated the genetic ancestry of a convenience sample of 641 parents enrolled at the 7 original NCS Vanguard sites, by analyzing 30,000 markers on exome arrays, using the 1000 Genomes Project superpopulations as reference populations, and compared this with the measures of self-reported ethnicity and race. For 99% of the individuals, self-reported ethnicity and race agreed with the predicted superpopulation. NCS individuals self-reporting as Asian had genetic ancestry of either South Asian or East Asian groups, while those reporting as either Hispanic White or Hispanic Other had similar genetic ancestry. Of the 33 individuals who self-reported as Multiracial or Non-Hispanic Other, 33% matched the South Asian or East Asian groups, while these groups represented only 4.4% of the other reported categories.Our data suggest that self-reported ethnicity and race have some limitations in accurately capturing Hispanic and South Asian populations. Overall, however, our data indicate that despite the complexity of the US population, individuals know their ancestral origins, and that self-reported ethnicity and race is a reliable indicator of genetic ancestry.
| S-EPMC4053981 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In 2000, the US Congress authorized the National Institutes of Health to conduct a prospective national longitudinal study of environmental influences on children's health and development from birth through 21 years. Several recruitment methodologies were piloted to determine the optimal strategy for a main National Children's Study. After an initial pilot recruitment that used a household enumeration strategy performed poorly, the National Children's Study Vanguard Study developed and evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and cost of 4 alternate strategies to recruit a large prospective national probability sample of pregnant women and their newborn children. We compare household-based recruitment, provider-based recruitment, direct outreach, and provider-based sampling (PBS) strategies with respect to overall recruitment success, efficiency, cost, and fulfillment of scientific requirements. Although all 5 strategies achieved similar enrollment rates (63%-81%) among eligible women, PBS achieved the highest recruitment success as measured by the ratio of observed-to-expected newborn enrollees per year of 0.99, exceeding those of the other strategies (range: 0.35-0.48). Because PBS could reach the enrollment target through sampling of high volume obstetric provider offices and birth hospitals, it achieved the lowest ratio of women screened to women enrolled and was also the least costly strategy. With the exception of direct outreach, all strategies enrolled a cohort of women whose demographics were similar to county natality data. PBS demonstrated the optimal combination of recruitment success, efficiency, cost, and population representativeness and serves as a model for the assembly of future prospective probability-based birth cohorts.
| S-EPMC5527671 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study examined the influence of step goals with pedometers to improve children's weight loss, physical activity, and psychosocial health during obesity treatment.Overweight and obese children ages 8-17 years (n?=?105) participated in a 10-week family-based weight management intervention, including physical activity, nutrition, and behavioral modification. A quasi-experimental design was used to group eight cohorts into three conditions: no pedometer (n?=?24), pedometer only (n?=?25), and pedometer with step goals (i.e., 500 steps/day weekly increase above baseline; n?=?56). Height and weight were measured at baseline and week 10 and used to calculate BMI. Analysis of covariance was performed to examine difference by condition for change in weight, BMI, and BMI z-score, controlling for age and baseline value. Differences in steps per day and psychosocial health were compared between the two pedometer conditions.Participants were 12.4?±?2.5 years of age, including 70% girls and 64% African Americans. The pedometer with goals condition significantly reduced BMI (p?=?0.02) and BMI z-score (p?=?0.01) compared with the no-pedometer group. The pedometer with goals condition significantly increased steps per day (+1185?±?425 steps/day) compared with the pedometer-only condition (-162?±?620 steps/day; p?<?0.05). Both pedometer groups similarly increased in subjective health and quality of life.Providing children with pedometers and individualized step goals was an effective approach to produce weight loss. Further work is needed to increase the strength of interventions to achieve clinically meaningful weight reduction for children with obesity.
| S-EPMC5549810 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Studies have shown that there is a deficiency in focused oncology teaching during medical school in Canada. This study aimed to develop oncology education goals and objectives for medical students through consensus of oncology educators from across Canada.In 2014 we created a comprehensive list of oncology education objectives using existing resources. Experts in oncology education and undergraduate medical education from all 17 Canadian medical schools were invited to participate in a 3-round modified Delphi process. In round 1, the participants scored the objectives on a 9-point Likert scale according to the degree to which they agreed an objective should be taught to medical students. Objectives with a mean score of 7.0 or greater were retained, those with a mean score of 1.0-3.9 were excluded, and those with a mean score of 4.0-6.9 were discussed at a round 2 Web meeting. In round 3, the participants voted on inclusion and exclusion of the round 2 objectives.Thirty-four (92%) of the 37 invited oncology educators, representing 14 medical schools, participated in the study. They included oncologists, family physicians, members of undergraduate medical education curriculum committees and a psychologist. Of the 214 objectives reviewed in round 1, 146 received a mean score of 7.0 or greater, and 68 were scored 4.0-6.9; no objective received a mean score below 4.0. Nine new objectives were suggested. The main themes of participants' comments were to minimize the number of objectives and to aim objectives at the knowledge level required for family physicians. In round 2, the participants were able to combine 28 of the objectives with other existing objectives. In round 3, 7 of the 49 objectives received consensus of at least 75% for inclusion. The final Canadian Oncology Goals and Objectives for Medical Students contained 10 goals and 153 objectives.Through a systematic process, we created a comprehensive, consensus-based set of oncology goals and objectives to facilitate the design of undergraduate medical education curricula and improve oncology education for medical students.
| S-EPMC5047803 | biostudies-other
Project description:Few studies have reported the outcome of direct outreach methods for recruitment of research participants in population-based samples. We describe the relationship of outreach strategies that are tailored to specific community factors to recruitment and consent outcomes in 10 National Children's Study direct outreach study locations (all were single counties).Each study center collected data from a target population of women who resided in selected county segments that were sampled based on a geographic area probability sampling design. Based on county characteristics of the 10 study locations, each study center used site-specific marketing approaches (direct mail, mass media, provider referrals, social networking) to recruit study participants. Recruitment success was measured by the number of recruited women as well as by a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of various recruitment methods.The number of women who consented varied from 67 to 792. The majority of women were pregnant at the time of consent. Community awareness varied from <1% to 70%. Although no significant associations were found between community characteristics and recruitment success, we found that certain types of outreach strategies enhanced recruitment.In a small sample of 10 US counties, recruitment success was not associated with community characteristics. It was, however, associated with certain types of outreach strategies that may be more effective in close-knit communities.
| S-EPMC4878110 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Joint Commission revised its National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) to include oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) in 2008. We sought to examine the effect of including OAT in The Joint Commission's NPSGs on historically low rates of OAT initiation for individuals with incident atrial fibrillation (AF).Southeastern state in the USA.North Carolina State Health Plan claims data from 944 500 individuals enrolled between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2010, supplemented with data from the Area Resource File and Online Survey, Certification and Reporting data network. We evaluated OAT initiation before and after the 2008 NPSGs revisions in a retrospective cohort new user design with an AF intervention group and two control groups: a positive control-patients estimated to be at very high risk of thromboembolism (mechanical heart valve and pulmonary embolism); and a negative control-patients with very low perceived risk of thromboembolism (paroxysmal AF). We developed multivariable models using a difference-in-difference parameterisation. Effects were estimated with generalised estimating equations.OAT initiation, a binary outcome defined as having a prescription drug claim for warfarin within 30 days of the index claim.OAT initiation was low (26.8%) for eligible individuals with incident AF in 2006-2008 but increased after NPSGs implementation (31.7%, p=0.022). OAT initiation was high but decreased in the positive control group (67.5% vs 62.0%, p=0.003). Multivariate analysis resulted in a relative 11% (95% CI (4% to 18%), p<0.01) increase in OAT initiation for incident AF patients.We document a substantial increase in guideline concordant OAT initiation in incident AF after the establishment of NPSGs, suggesting that regulatory healthcare agency initiatives can influence clinical practice.
| S-EPMC3927813 | biostudies-other
Project description:We aimed to describe 17 months of experience with household recruitment of live births for the National Children's Study in Queens, a highly urban, diverse borough of New York City (NYC), and to assess predictors of recruitment success.Recruitment data (enumeration, pregnancy screening of age-eligible women, identification of pregnancies, and consent) for the period of January 2009 through May 2010 were calculated. Geographic information systems were used to create 11 community-level variables for each of the 18 study segments where recruitment occurred, using US Census, NYC Office of Vital Statistics, NYC Department of City Planning, and NYC Police Department data. Recruitment yields were analyzed with respect to these variables at the segment level.Enumeration identified 4889 eligible women, of whom 4333 (88.6%) completed the pregnancy screener. At least 115 births were lost because of an inability of the pregnancy screener to identify pregnant women, whereas another 115 could be expected to be lost because of missed enumerations and pregnancy screeners. The consent rate was 60.3%. Segments with higher percentages of low birth weight had higher enumeration, pregnancy screening, and consent rates.In a highly immigrant, urban setting, households could be approached for recruitment of women to participate in the National Children's Study with consent rates equal to those experienced in clinical settings. Refinement of the pregnancy screener and other recruitment materials presents an opportunity to optimize recruitment, improve the representativeness of study participants, and improve the cost-effectiveness of study execution.
| S-EPMC3025422 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE:In 2009, the National Children's Study (NCS) Vanguard Study tested the feasibility of household-based recruitment and participant enrollment by using a birth rate probability sample. In 2010, the NCS Program Office launched 3 alternative recruitment methods. We tested whether direct outreach (DO) recruitment could be a more efficient strategy to recruit women of child-bearing age. METHODS:The NCS DO recruitment approach recruited women, 18 to 49 years, who were pregnant or trying to conceive using passive recruitment methods emphasizing broad community outreach and engagement to create study awareness. Study mailings to listed households included a pregnancy screening questionnaire to identify potentially eligible women from selected neighborhoods to contact the study center. Unique features of this recruitment approach included the following: (1) expansion of selected neighborhoods to maximize potential participant recruitment and enrollment while minimizing in-person participant contact and (2) offering 2 levels of study participation distinguished by data collection intensity. RESULTS:Ten study centers listed 255?475 geographically eligible households for contact representing, on average, 3.3% of households per Primary Sampling Unit. A total of 19?354 women were identified for screening, and 17?421 completed a pregnancy screener representing 6.8% of eligible households. Study-eligible pregnant women were older, more educated, and less likely to be Hispanic than the general population. Only 16% (2786) of 17?421 screened women were study-eligible, and 81.1% of these 2786 women consented to participate. CONCLUSIONS:Although feasible, the DO approach recruited a sample of study-eligible pregnant women significantly different from the population. This recruitment approach was labor intensive for the yield of enrolled women.
| S-EPMC4878107 | biostudies-literature