Clinical trial NCT06574633: ACEs Referral From PED
Official title: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Resource Referral Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Adverse Childhood Experiences
Keywords: Teenagers
Adolescents
Pediatric Emergency Department (PED).
Therapy Services
Lead sponsor: Emory University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-08-28
Enrollment: 62
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Maximum age (years): 17
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic exposures that can cause many negative health impacts across life. ACEs are common in patients who seek out care in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs); this is an opportunity to connect families with mental health resources to mitigate the effects of ACEs and improve lifelong health. The goal of this study is to determine if children with high ACEs have better rates of follow-up with mental health resources when a telehealth option is provided, as previous research has shown that simply making an in-person follow-up appointment is not very helpful.

Detailed description: Children 12-17 years old who are receiving care in a PED and their legal guardians will fill out a tablet-based electronic consent/assent and survey that takes no longer than 10 minutes to complete while waiting for treatment once they are in a private patient room. The study team will review the responses to identify children with ACE scores 2 or higher and contact the family to help them arrange therapy services. Patients will be randomized to in-person versus telehealth therapy. A few months after enrollment, the study team will contact the family and mental health team to find out if the family was able to keep their appointment to start mental health treatment. This will aid future research to identify if and how mental health treatment impacts these patients over the following years.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients aged 12-17 years seen in the PED who read and speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients already enrolled in outpatient therapy resources,
* Critically ill patients
* Patients with significant developmental delays impeding their ability to participate in therapy.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Rate of attendance between groups after Behavioral Mental Health Specialist (BMHS) referral.
timeFrame: Within 24 weeks after scheduled appointment date
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) scores between groups
timeFrame: Baseline and Within 24 weeks after scheduled appointment date
measure: Child-reported and caregiver-reported Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and PCEs
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: ACEs prevalence by zip code between groups
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Community Resources by zip code
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Child opportunity index (COI)
timeFrame: Baseline
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding
state: Georgia
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA)
state: Georgia
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston
state: Georgia
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Arthur M. Blank Hospital | Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
state: Georgia
Study officials:
affiliation: Emory University
name: Karli S. Okeson, DO
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: