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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Nov 4;23(6):931-938.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2022.7.55755.

Electronic Screening for Adolescent Risk Behaviors in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Siobhan Thomas-Smith  1 , Eileen J Klein  1 , Bonnie Strelitz  2 , Jennifer Jensen  2 , Elizabeth Parker  2 , Laura Richardson  3 , Carolyn A McCarty  3 , Taraneh Shafii  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Electronic Screening for Adolescent Risk Behaviors in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Siobhan Thomas-Smith et al. West J Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: In this study we aimed to assess the impact of an electronic health assessment with individualized feedback for risk behaviors in adolescents seeking care in a pediatric emergency department (ED).

Methods: We conducted a randomized control trial using a tablet-based screening program with a study population of adolescents in a busy pediatric ED. The intervention group received the screening program with individualized feedback. The control group received the screening program without feedback. All participants received one-day and three-month follow-up surveys to assess behaviors and attitudes toward health behaviors.

Results: A total of 296 subjects were enrolled and randomized. There was no difference in changes in risky behaviors between the control and experimental groups. A higher proportion of participants in the intervention groups reported that the screener changed the way they thought about their health at one-day follow-up (27.0%, 36/133) compared to the control group (15.5%, 20/129, P = .02).

Conclusion: This study successfully tested a multivariable electronic health screener in a real-world setting of a busy pediatric ED. The tool did not significantly change risky health behaviors in the adolescent population screened. However, our finding that the intervention changed adolescents' perceptions of their health opens a door to the continued development of electronic interventions to screen for and target risk behaviors in adolescents in the ED setting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study participant enrollment, allocation, follow-up and analysis. MD, Doctor of medicine; ID, identification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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