Evaluation of Pediatrician Adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics Health Supervision Guidelines for Down Syndrome

• Published in: American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities Vol. 123; no. 5; pp. 387 - 398
• Main Authors: O'Neill, Meghan E, Ryan, Alexandra, Kwon, Soyang, Binns, Helen J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities 01.09.2018
• Subjects: Age; Archives & records; Behavior Disorders; Children & youth; Clinics; Committees; Comorbidity; Congenital diseases; Data Analysis; Down syndrome; Families & family life; Guidance; Guidelines; Health care; Health Needs; Hospitals; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual Disability; Measurement Techniques; Medical records; Medical screening; Medical Services; Mortality; Obesity; Pediatrics; Primary care; Records (Forms); Research Design; Screening Tests; Supervision; Surveillance; Teenagers; Test Results; Thyroid gland; United States > US; Chicago Illinois; Israel; guidelines; adherence; Down syndrome
• ISSN: 1944-7515; 1944-7558
• DOI: 10.1352/1944-7558-123.5.387

The American Academy of Pediatrics's guideline on health supervision for children with Down syndrome (DS) offers pediatricians guidance to improve detection of comorbid conditions. Pediatrician adherence has not yet been comprehensively evaluated. Medical records of 31 children with DS who received primary care at two urban academic clinic sites from 2008-2012 were reviewed. Data was extracted on adherence to age-specific individual guideline components for each subject by year-of-life (total 84 years-of-life). Overall adherence across all components was 83% (2001 guideline) and 67% (2011 guideline). Adherence to thyroid, hearing, vision, and developmental components was >85%, and anticipatory guidance regarding atlantoaxial instability and sexuality was <35%. Overall adherence was higher when a subject was younger and when a provider was an attending-level pediatrician.