Primary Care after Hospitalization for Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This K24 application proposes a mentoring experience for junior faculty and clinical fellows from multiple specialties who are performing patient-oriented research in pediatrics. The K24 candidate is an epidemiologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Critical Care at the University of Utah with a history o funding in the outcome of children with traumatic brain injury. This proposal's long-term research objective is to improve primary care for children who have been hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury. This goal is related to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's mission to ensure children have the opportunity to have healthy and productive lives free of disability. The first specific aim of the research is to ascertain the prevalence of academic, psychological, and executive function deficits that affect every day living among children one year after hospitalization for a traumatic brain injury. This aim will be accomplished by recruiting a cohort of children ages 4 to 14 years of age from Salt Lake County. Children will be followed longitudinally with telephone follow-up for parent reported outcomes. The primary outcome will be the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The second research aim is to develop and implement a survey of a national sample of pediatricians about their knowledge, attitudes and behavior about treatment of this group of children. A random sample of pediatricians in active general practice will be recruited from the American Medical Association Masterfile. The training aims of this application include course work in qualitative methods, scale development, and leadership. This group of skills will make the candidate a more successful mentor. The proposed mentoring plan takes advantage of a Pediatrics Department program designed to provide senior mentoring to junior faculty who are preparing to write a first external grant. It offers junior faculty a mentored research experience using either the proposed research or research in the mentee's own area of interest. The candidate's background in epidemiologic methods and pediatrics makes it possible for her to mentor junior faculty and fellows across subspecialties. The overall plan capitalizes on the resources offered to junior faculty and fellows in the Department of Pediatrics and at the University of Utah. These include the Center for Clinical and Translational Science's Master's of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI), its K12 program, and its biostatistics, survey design, bioinformatics and community engagement cores; many junior faculty with K awards; seminars such as Research in Progress; and the Pediatrics grant writing workshops. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There are 35,000 children hospitalized annually for traumatic brain injury. Many of these children have unrecognized problems in the year after injury including behavioral and academic problems. This project will ascertain what types of problems these children have one year after injury and whether primary care pediatricians are ready to recognize and address these problems.