Treatment Guideline Nonadherence Pretransport Associated With Need for Higher Level of Care in Children Transferred to a Pediatric Tertiary Care Center for Status Epilepticus

Abstract

ObjectivesWe sought to investigate the association between adherence to the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 2016 guidelines for management of convulsive status epilepticus (SE) and clinical outcomes among children requiring interhospital transport for SE. We hypothesized that pretransport guideline nonadherence would be associated with needing higher level of care posttransfer.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of children aged 30 days to 18 years transferred to our pediatric tertiary center from 2017 to 2019 for management of SE. Their care episodes were classified as 2016 American Epilepsy Society guideline adherent or nonadherent. There were 40 referring hospitals represented in this cohort.ResultsOf 260 care episodes, 55 (21%) were guideline adherent, 184 (71%) were guideline nonadherent, and 21 (8%) had insufficient data to determine guideline adherence. Compared with the adherent group, patients in the nonadherent care group had longer hospitalizations (32 hours [17–68] vs 21 hours [7–48], P = 0.006), were more likely to require intensive care unit admission (47% vs 31%), and less likely to be discharged home from the emergency department (16% vs 35%; χ2 test, P = 0.01). Intubation rates did not differ significantly between groups (25% vs 18%, P = 0.37). When we fit a multivariable model to adjust for confounding variables, guideline nonadherence was associated with need for higher level of care (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.04–3.99). Treatment guideline adherence did not improve over the 3-year study period (2017: 22%, 2018: 19%, 2019: 29% [χ2 test for differences between any 2 years, P = 0.295]).ConclusionsGuideline nonadherence pretransport was associated with longer hospitalizations and need for higher level of care among children transferred for SE at our institution. These findings suggest a need to improve SE guideline adherence through multifaceted quality improvement efforts targeting both the prehospital and community hospital settings.

Survey of Pediatric Status Epilepticus Treatment Practices and Adherence to Management Guidelines (Pedi-SPECTRUM e-Survey)

“…In addition to heterogeneity in treatment approaches, the compliance to PSE management guidelines is generally poor (15–20%) especially to time-dependent decisions. 13 , 16 , 27 …”

“…[3][4][5] However, there is wide variability in management of PSE and poor compliance to guidelines. [3][4][5][13][14][15][16][17] Regarding the first-line ASM, midazolam was the most preferred agent and most respondents use 2 doses. Until recently phenytoin was commonly used second-line ASM.…”

“…In addition to heterogeneity in treatment approaches, the compliance to PSE management guidelines is generally poor (15-20%) especially to time-dependent decisions. 13,16,27 The strengths of this study include that this is the first survey that provided real world data concerning the current PSE treatment practices among pediatric intensivists and pediatricians throughout India. This study will serve as primer for future studies to record actual treatment practices, improvement in facilities and quality of care, and formulation of guidelines for Indian settings.…”

“…[3][4][5] However, several studies and surveys demonstrated that there is wide variability in treatment modalities among treating physicians and poor adherence to PSE management guidelines, particularly in time-dependent decisions. [13][14][15][16] The information about variability in treatment practices and adherence to PSE management guidelines is limited from India. Therefore, we planned this survey in India to assess current treatment practices and adherence to PSE management guidelines among healthcare providers.…”