title: Health services use and growth patterns among older siblings of infants with prenatal drug exposure.
abstract: The health care use patterns, suspected maltreatment, and growth trajectories of siblings of infants with prenatal drug exposure were examined. Ninety-three siblings of drug-exposed infants were matched with patients from the same primary care clinic. The case patients were found to have significantly fewer health care contacts, more deficient immunizations, and more reports of suspected child maltreatment. Although they did not differ in birth weight, growth curve modeling found that case patients had lower weight gain trajectories. When drug-exposed infants are identified, nursing personnel are in a unique position to assist the siblings of those identified infants obtain needed medical care and services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, OK 73190, USA.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bertsch
authors.forename: Sharon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chaffin
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D035781:Siblings; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D014481:United States