Disparities Seen After Introduction of QI Intervention for Febrile Infants
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 19, 2024 -- Racial and ethnic disparities in quality metrics were seen after introduction of a quality improvement (QI) intervention designed to standardize care of febrile infants, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in Pediatrics.
Corrie E. McDaniel, D.O., from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study of 16,961 infants aged 8 to 60 days enrolled in a QI collaborative of 99 hospitals. Data were obtained for two periods: baseline (November 2020 to October 2021) and intervention (November 2021 to October 2022). Guideline concordance was assessed through adherence to project measures by infant race and ethnicity using proportion differences versus the overall proportion.
The researchers observed no differences in primary measures at baseline. During the intervention period, the proportion of non-Hispanic White infants with appropriate inflammatory markers obtained and documentation of follow-up from the emergency department was higher (2 and 2.5 percent difference in proportions, respectively). The proportion of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic/Latino infants with documented shared decision-making for obtaining cerebrospinal fluid was lower (−12.5 and −6.9 percent, respectively). Appropriate inflammatory markers obtained and appropriate follow-up from the emergency department were seen for a lower proportion of Hispanic/Latino infants (−2.3 and −3.6 percent, respectively).
"Given our findings, we recommend that future guidelines implement best practices for equity-focused QI and pursue continued rigorous analysis of implementation results by race and ethnicity," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted August 2024
Read this next
Generative AI Model for Draft Radiological Reporting Improves Documentation Efficiency
THURSDAY, June 12, 2025 -- Clinical use of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated draft radiograph reports is associated with improved radiologist documentation efficiency while...
Mitochondrial Genetics Key to Metastatic Melanoma Immunotherapy Resistance
THURSDAY, June 12, 2025 -- For patients with metastatic melanoma, mitochondrial (MT) haplogroup T (HG-T) is associated with resistance to an anti-programmed cell death...
Talking Therapy Reduces Depression, Anxiety Symptoms in Stroke Survivors
THURSDAY, June 12, 2025 -- For stroke survivors, talking therapy is associated with moderate reductions in depression and large reductions in anxiety symptoms, according to a...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.