Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital for Children Boston Report New Data on Managed Care (Disparities In Maternal-infant Drug Testing, Social Work Assessment, and Custody At 5 Hospitals): Managed Care

2023 OCT 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Marijuana Daily -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news originating from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To evaluate for disparities in peripartum toxicology testing among maternal-infant dyads across a hospital network and subsequent child protective services (CPS) involvement. Retrospective chart review of 59,425 deliveries at 5 hospitals in Massachusetts between 2016 and 2020.”

Financial support for this research came from NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Massachusetts General Hospital for Children Boston, “We evaluated associations between maternal characteristics, toxicology testing, and child welfare involvement with disproportionality risk ratios and hierarchical logistical regression.Toxicology testing was performed on 1959 (3.3%) dyads. Younger individuals and individuals of color were more likely to be tested for cannabis use or maternal medical complications compared to white non-Hispanic individuals. Among those without a substance use disorder, age <25 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.43-3.26), race and ethnicity (non-Hispanic Black (aOR 1.80; 95% CI, 1.52-2.13), Hispanic (aOR 1.23; 95% CI, 1.05 -1.45), mixed race/other (aOR 1.40; 95% CI, 1.04, 1.87), unavailable race (aOR 1.92; 95% CI, 1.32-2.79), and public insurance (Medicaid [aOR 2.61; 95% CI, 2.27-3.00], Medicare [aOR 13.76; 95% CI, 9.99-18.91]) had increased odds of toxicology testing compared to older, white non -Hispanic, and privately insured individuals. The disproportionality ratios in testing were greater than 1.0 for individuals under 25 years old (3.8), Hispanic individuals (1.6), non-Hispanic Black individuals (1.8), individuals of other race (1.2), unavailable race (1.8), and individuals with public insurance (Medicaid 2.6; Medicare 10.6).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Among dyads tested, race and ethnicity was not associated with CPS involvement.Peripartum toxicology testing is disproportionately performed on non-white, younger, and poorer individuals and their infants, with cannabis use and medical complications prompting testing more often for patients of color than for white non-Hispanic individuals.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Disparities In Maternal-infant Drug Testing, Social Work Assessment, and Custody At 5 Hospitals. Academic Pediatrics, 2023;23(6):1268-1275. Academic Pediatrics can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Academic Pediatrics - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/academic-pediatrics/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Samuel Cohen, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children Boston, Boston, MA, United States. Additional authors for this research include Joseph H. Chou, Leela Sarathy, Davida M. Schiff, Timothy Nielsen, Bettina Hoeppner, Timothy Wilens, Kathleen J. Koenigs, Nicola Perlman, Sarah N. Bernstein, Nicole A. Smith and Mishka Terplan.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2023.01.012. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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