AAP meeting highlights: PCPs improve autism diagnoses; suicide risk is high in children
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Last week, health professionals met at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition for the latest updates in pediatric health care.
At the conference, Brittany Perry, DO, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, and colleagues reported that if primary care physicians were trained to evaluate autism in children, they could significantly decrease the time to diagnosis.
The researchers’ data showed that 27 children at risk for autism who were referred from a primary care office had reduced wait time to initial evaluation and were diagnosed at a younger age compared with 42 children who were referred from an autism center.
In another presentation, Amanda N. Burnside, PhD, an attending pediatric psychologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and colleagues found that among 12,112 pediatric ED encounters, nearly one-quarter of children screened positive for suicide risk, and the percentage jumped to 78% among those who identified as transgender or gender diverse.
The findings were not surprising, Burnside told Healio.
Read these and more stories from the conference below:
Evaluating for autism in primary care could improve diagnosis.
Training primary care physicians to evaluate children for autism could improve diagnosis. Read more.
‘Sadly not very surprising’: Many children screen positive for suicide risk
Nearly one in four children screened positive for suicide risk at a pediatric ED in Chicago during a 3-year period. Read more.
‘Distressing:’ Most young Twitch streamers share personal details.
Minors who live stream on Twitch.tv risk being watched and groomed by predators. Read more.
Q&A: How children could lose hearing due to loud noises
In a new policy statement and technical report, the AAP raised an alarm over excessive noise exposures in childhood and explained how it can lead to hearing loss over time. Read more.
VIDEO: AAP questions marketing of toddler ‘formulas’
Drinks marketed as toddler “formulas” are nutritionally lacking and generally unnecessary for most children. Read more.
VIDEO: High-powered magnets continue to injure children
High-powered rare-earth magnets continue to cause injuries in children despite continued warnings about their danger. Read more.