Bubble Wrap PLUS – December 23

Can’t get enough of Bubble Wrap? The Bubble Wrap Plus is a monthly Paediatric Journal Club reading list from Professor Jaan Toelen (University Hospitals Leuven) and Dr Anke Raaijmakers (Sydney Children’s Hospital). 

This comprehensive list is developed from 34 journals, including major and subspecialty paediatric journals. We suggest this list can help you discover relevant or interesting articles for your local journal club or allow you to keep a finger on the pulse of paediatric research.

When you read medical articles to stay up-to-date, you may not know certain studies pique your interest more than others. It could be because an original or intriguing research question has been answered, or because it was published in a top journal, or written by an author you once met at a conference. As we perused the articles from this month’s journal club list, some pieces ‘entrenched’ themselves more firmly in our minds.

Prevention is often a very economical but potent form of medicine. In the current issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sandler and colleagues report on the long-term effects of a family bereavement program (FBP). This study involved an intervention to promote resilience among children or adolescents who lost a parent. Assessing the impact 15 years later, individuals who received the intervention exhibited half the rate of depression compared to those in the comparison group (13.46% vs. 28.05%). What makes this noteworthy? This effect is not only larger but also more enduring than many evidence-based treatments for depression.

In the current issue of Pediatrics, Ten Kate and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis on the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) before, during, and after phototherapy. While TcB is a valid screening tool for identifying neonates requiring measurement of total serum bilirubin (TSB) before phototherapy, its value during and after the treatment remains uncertain. The meta-analysis suggests that TcB measurements before and during phototherapy on covered skin exhibit good agreement with TSB in both term and preterm newborns. However, more studies are needed to evaluate its accuracy after phototherapy.

Gutman and colleagues, in their publication in JAMA Pediatrics, delved into a question many ponder. We know that febrile infants, at low risk of invasive bacterial infections, are unlikely to benefit from lumbar puncture, antibiotics, or hospitalization, yet we commonly perform these procedures. Their study explored associations between race, ethnicity, language, and additional interventions in the U.S. healthcare setting. They concluded that, in low-risk, febrile infants, the language used for medical care was associated with the use of at least one non-indicated intervention, whereas race and ethnicity were not. Differences in language may create communication barriers, fostering disparities in medical care.

Adolescent medicine is often considered a branch of paediatrics where many paediatricians feel uneasy due to the behavioural issues, psychological problems, and eating disorders of their patients.  Yet those of us who frequently care for adolescents can attest that they are thankful patients when they feel you take them seriously. In the Lancet, Vrinten and colleagues examined the use of social media among children and young people and its associations with health behaviours. Their analyses revealed an association between social media use and e-cigarette and tobacco use. Unravelling the causal relationship is challenging, but it’s conceivable that some of these products are promoted on social media by influencers or through advertisements. This study adds to the growing list of negative aspects of social media use in adolescence. Alsarrani and colleagues, who also published in the Lancet, focused on adolescents living in Northern Ireland. Recognizing that friendships play a vital role in the social lives of teenagers, this study found that friendship quality was significantly associated with mood, psychological well-being, and subjective well-being in adolescents. Future research should incorporate longitudinal analyses to test these associations robustly.

If we have missed out on something useful or you think other articles are absolutely worth sharing, please add them in the comments!