Studies Summarize Current Evidence on Tools to Treat, Diagnose ADHD Symptoms in Children

AHRQ Stats: Trends in Number of Individuals Using Dental Care

Around 131 million people—40.8 percent of the total U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population—utilized dental care in 2020. This represented a decline of 18 million people when compared with the 149 million people who utilized dental care in 2019. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #555, Dental Utilization and Expenditures, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population Aged 2 and Older, 2019-2021.)

Today's Headlines:

• Studies Summarize Current Evidence on Tools to Treat, Diagnose ADHD Symptoms in Children.
• AHRQ Grantee Antoinette Schoenthaler Explores Digital Healthcare’s Potential to Improve Health Outcomes of Minority Patients.
• New Analysis Documents Pandemic’s Impact on Healthcare Use.
• Commentary Summarizes Lessons Learned in AHRQ Effort to Transform Primary Care .
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Research Funding Opportunities from AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Studies Summarize Current Evidence on Tools to Treat, Diagnose ADHD Symptoms in Children

A growing number of treatments are available to improve attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, especially for school-aged youth, according to a new AHRQ-funded study published in Pediatrics. The study, one of two based on a comprehensive evidence review from AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice Center Program, emphasized that medication therapies remain important treatment options and have the strongest evidence base for improving ADHD symptoms but are associated with adverse events, such as appetite suppression. The second study, also published in Pediatrics, summarized current evidence on the tools for ADHD diagnosis. Researchers concluded that multiple tools showed promising diagnostic performance, but a valid and reliable diagnosis of ADHD requires the judgment of a clinician who is experienced in the evaluation of youth with and without ADHD, along with the aid of standardized rating scales and input from multiple informants, including parents, teachers and youth themselves.

AHRQ Grantee Antoinette Schoenthaler Explores Digital Healthcare’s Potential to Improve Health Outcomes of Minority Patients

AHRQ’s newest grantee profile describes how Antoinette Schoenthaler, Ed.D., associate director of research at NYU’s Langone Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, examines the reasons for patients’ decisions to adhere to prescribed medicines and lifestyle behaviors, with a focus on minority patients. She believes it is crucial to place patients’ voices at the center of self-managing their conditions to improve outcomes and mitigate inequities that drive poor health. With AHRQ funding, Dr. Schoenthaler has developed digital healthcare solutions to help patients take an active role in their healthcare and improve self-management behaviors by tracking personal information, such as diet, physical activity, medication adherence and sleep quality. Access Dr. Schoenthaler’s profile and profiles of other AHRQ grantees.

New Analysis Documents Pandemic’s Impact on Healthcare Use

Outpatient visits, emergency department visits and inpatient admissions each fell about 35 percent in April 2020 in the United States, as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced nationwide, a recent AHRQ study found. The study, an analysis of AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data published in the Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, reviewed healthcare utilization from 2018 to 2020. The researchers found that dental visits fell more than 80 percent, ophthalmology visits declined 71 percent and mammograms fell 82 percent, but psychiatric visits rose slightly. By the end of 2020, specialist physician visits recovered; however, primary care and dental visits remained 12 percent lower than in 2019. MEPS is the Nation’s most complete source of data on the cost and use of healthcare and health insurance coverage. Access the abstract.

Commentary Summarizes Lessons Learned in AHRQ Effort to Transform Primary Care

AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW: Advancing Heart Health initiative showed that efforts to transform primary care must be responsive to changes, focus on personal relationships and remain flexible to accommodate practices’ most pressing needs rather than be tied to a specific disease or initiative, according to a commentary in the Annals of Family Medicine. The EvidenceNOW initiative provided external quality improvement support to help small- and medium-sized primary care practices implement the latest evidence to improve their delivery of cardiovascular care. Access the commentary.

Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network

AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

• The association between nurse staffing and quality of care in emergency departments: a systematic review.
• Inter-hospital transfer is an independent risk factor for hospital-associated infection.
• An mHealth design to promote medication safety in children with medical complexity.

Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

Research Funding Opportunities from AHRQ

Health services researchers committed to improving the quality, safety and equity of healthcare can explore a variety of AHRQ funding opportunities to support this work. AHRQ has recently updated its research priorities guidance to include healthcare quality and safety, delivery and practice improvement and whole-person healthcare delivery. Notices of Funding Opportunities include Research Grants (R series), Career Development Awards (K series) and Research Training and Fellowships (T & F series). Access more information on when to submit applications. Current notices include:

• Understanding and Improving Diagnostic Safety in Ambulatory Care: Incidence and Contributing Factors (R01).
• Improving Diagnostic Safety in Ambulatory Care: Strategies and Interventions (R18).
• Systems-Based Approaches to Improve Patient Safety by Improving Healthcare Worker Safety and Well-Being (R01 Clinical Trial Optional).

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Short-stay units vs routine admission from the emergency department in patients with acute heart failure: the SSU-AHF randomized clinical trial. Pang PS, Berger DA, Mahler SA, et al. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Jan;7(1):e2350511. Epub 2024 Jan 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Postpartum hospital discharge: birthing parent perspectives on supportive practices and areas for improvement. Scroggins JK, Gibson AN, Stuebe AM, et al. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs 2024 Jan 10. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Family support services and reported parent coping among caregivers of children with emotional, behavioral, or developmental disorders. Graaf G, Hughes PM, Dejong NA, et al. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2024 Jan;45(1):e54-e62. Epub 2023 Dec 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Comparison of evaluation methods for improving the usability of a Spanish mHealth tool. Hahn AL, Michaels CL, Khawly G, et al. Int J Med Inform 2024 Apr;184:105355. Epub 2024 Feb 13. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

What's going well: a qualitative analysis of positive patient and family feedback in the context of the diagnostic process. Liu SK, Bourgeois F, Dong J, et al. Diagnosis 2024 Feb 1;11(1):63-72. Epub 2023 Dec 20. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The role of hospital-based vascular access teams and implications for patient safety: a multi-methods study. Quinn M, Horowitz JK, Krein SL, et al. J Hosp Med 2024 Jan;19(1):13-23. Epub 2023 Dec 15. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Association between facility and clinician characteristics and family planning services provided during U.S. outpatient care visits. Schulte A, Biggs MA. Womens Health Issues 2023 Nov-Dec;33(6):573-81. Epub 2023 Aug 3. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Medicare meets the cloud: the development of a secure platform for the storage and analysis of claims data. Simpson RL, Lee JA, Li Y, et al. JAMIA Open 2024 Apr;7(1):ooae007. Epub 2024 Feb 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.