TY - JOUR
T1 - Infectious disease screening in a dedicated primary care clinic for children in foster care
AU - Lairmore, Sarah
AU - Stone, Kimberly E.
AU - Huang, Rong
AU - McLeigh, Jill
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Latreaca Ivey in data management, the staff, children and families in the foster care clinic, and the support of the Rees Jones foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Background: Children in foster care are considered at high risk for infectious diseases, and guidelines recommend screening for tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Little is known about the prevalence of infectious disease in children in foster care. Objectives: Describe infectious disease screening practices in a primary care clinic dedicated to caring for children in foster care. Participants and setting: Patients evaluated at a foster care primary care clinic at a southwestern academic center. Methods: Retrospective chart review. Results: From January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2018, 2868 unique patients were evaluated (53 % male, 41 % white, 30 % black, 19 % Hispanic); 1638 (57 %) had any infectious disease laboratory screening done. About 50 % of children had completed screens for tuberculosis, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C. Tuberculosis screens were positive in 3.6 % of children, 5.5 % of adolescents were positive for chlamydia and <1 % of children were positive for HIV, syphilis or hepatitis C. Increasing age and number of visits were associated with completed tuberculosis, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C screenings (p < 0.01); female adolescents with completed labs were more likely to be screened for gonorrhea and chlamydia than male adolescents. Conclusions: Few positive infectious disease screenings were identified in children evaluated in a dedicated foster care primary care clinic despite presence of risk factors. Multiple visits to a primary care foster care clinic may increase the likelihood of completed screenings. Targeted infectious disease screening based on age and local epidemiology may be less traumatizing but still clinically appropriate.
AB - Background: Children in foster care are considered at high risk for infectious diseases, and guidelines recommend screening for tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Little is known about the prevalence of infectious disease in children in foster care. Objectives: Describe infectious disease screening practices in a primary care clinic dedicated to caring for children in foster care. Participants and setting: Patients evaluated at a foster care primary care clinic at a southwestern academic center. Methods: Retrospective chart review. Results: From January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2018, 2868 unique patients were evaluated (53 % male, 41 % white, 30 % black, 19 % Hispanic); 1638 (57 %) had any infectious disease laboratory screening done. About 50 % of children had completed screens for tuberculosis, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C. Tuberculosis screens were positive in 3.6 % of children, 5.5 % of adolescents were positive for chlamydia and <1 % of children were positive for HIV, syphilis or hepatitis C. Increasing age and number of visits were associated with completed tuberculosis, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C screenings (p < 0.01); female adolescents with completed labs were more likely to be screened for gonorrhea and chlamydia than male adolescents. Conclusions: Few positive infectious disease screenings were identified in children evaluated in a dedicated foster care primary care clinic despite presence of risk factors. Multiple visits to a primary care foster care clinic may increase the likelihood of completed screenings. Targeted infectious disease screening based on age and local epidemiology may be less traumatizing but still clinically appropriate.
KW - Child welfare
KW - Foster care
KW - Laboratory screening
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108742140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108742140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105074
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105074
M3 - Article
C2 - 33932839
AN - SCOPUS:85108742140
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 117
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
M1 - 105074
ER -