News in brief - Jan. 3, 2011

Caffeine consumption common among children, study finds

About 75% of children age 5 to 12 consume caffeine each day, according to a study posted online Dec. 15, 2010, in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Researchers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center surveyed parents of 201 children on their offspring's caffeine consumption during routine clinical visits to an urban outpatient pediatric clinic. Parents were asked to report the type and amount of snacks and beverages their children consumed daily.

Researchers found that children age 5 to 7 consumed an average of 52 mg of caffeine per day. The figure was 109 mg each day -- the equivalent of almost three 12-ounce cans of soda -- for children ages 8 to 12, according to the study (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21167501).

Caffeine intake was not linked to bedwetting. But researchers found that the more caffeine children ingested, the less they slept. The authors recommend that physicians screen children's caffeine consumption when evaluating behavioral health concerns.

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Massachusetts physicians use patient feedback to refine care

More than 80% of Massachusetts physician groups are using patient experience survey results to reshape how they deliver care, according to a study published online Dec. 15, 2010, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

About 60% of the 72 physician groups surveyed said they implemented changes as a result of patients' feedback on issues such as getting timely appointments and how well physicians communicate. An additional 22% of physician groups focused only on improving the efforts of their lowest-scoring physicians, and 17% took no action in response to the patient reports.

The most common improvement actions included changing patient check-in and test-result procedures, installing electronic medical records systems and upgrading phone systems, the study said (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21161419).

Statewide survey results have been publicly reported since 2006.

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6% of women who give birth have diabetes

More than 250,000 women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2008 had diabetes, putting them at greater risk for miscarriage and other complications, according to new data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That's equal to about one in every 16 of the 4.2 million women who gave birth that year. Of those, 35,500 women had preexisting diabetes, and 232,300 developed gestational diabetes. Risks include miscarriage, premature birth or having a baby with hypoglycemia, jaundice or an abnormally large body.

Diabetic mothers were more likely to have a cesarean section and higher pregnancy costs than other women. Sixty-four percent of women with preexisting diabetes and 46% with gestational diabetes had a cesarean section compared with 32% of women without diabetes.

The total cost of all pregnant women with diabetes in 2008 is estimated at more than $1.4 billion, equal to 8.5% of maternal hospitalization costs, according to a Dec. 15, 2010, AHRQ statement (www.ahrq.gov/news/nn/nn121510.htm).

This content was published online only.

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