Current Studies
Abdominal, Head, and Chest Pain in the Pediatric ED: Epidemiology, Predictors, and Outcomes
The study aims to obtain quantitative data describing factors related to chest, abdominal, and headache pain in the ED. This data will have the potential to inform the classification of risk trajectories, and ultimately inform targeted, early interventions to prevent long-term impairment, improve access to appropriate treatment, and reduce excessive health care utilization for patients presenting to the ED with pain complaints.
Predictors and Outcomes of Anxiety Surrounding Invasive Procedures in the Emergency Department
This two-phase study will examine the reliability and validity of the emergency department (ED) version of the mYPAS to assess anxiety in Spanish and English-speaking children undergoing ED invasive procedures, and to examine child, parent, and provider predictors and outcomes associated with anxiety surrounding ED procedures. The study will recruit a total of 144 children undergoing invasive ED procedures (e.g., laceration repair, bone fracture repair) and their families. Reliability and validity analyses of the adapted mYPAS will be conducted with 54 children (27 children per language group). The study will also examine the effect of child, parent, and provider factors on child procedural anxiety and child behavioral, pain, and patient-centered (i.e., patient satisfaction) outcomes 3-, 7- and 14-days following discharge from the ED.
Publication
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Predictors of parental anxiety in a paediatric emergency department. Sarah R Martin, Isaac Hung, Theodore W Heyming, Michelle A Fortier, Zeev N Kain. Emerg Med J. 2023 Oct;40(10):715-720. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2022-212917. Epub 2023 Aug 17.
Evaluating Pain Communication and Understanding in Interpreted Medical Encounters in a Pediatric Emergency Department
This study will aim to understand how Spanish-speaking Latino caregivers and children who require medical interpretation services conceptualize and understand pain, and subsequently convey pain concepts to clinicians during interpreted medical encounters in the Emergency Department. The study also aims to understand how clinicians and interpreters understand, conceptualize, and communicate pain concepts of Spanish-speaking families during interpreted medical encounters. This mixed methods study combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative component evaluates pain rating concordance among stakeholders in interpreter medical encounters while the qualitative component provides additional context about cultural and linguistic understanding and communication of pain, resulting in a multidimensional sociocultural understanding of pain experiences, concepts, and communication practices.