TY - JOUR
T1 - Pediatric Emergency Physicians' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Regarding Confidential Adolescent Care
AU - Gutman, Colleen K.
AU - Koyama, Atsuko
AU - Pickett, Michelle
AU - Holmstrom, Sara
AU - Ahmad, Fahd A.
AU - Hoch, Ariel
AU - Lehto, Elizabeth
AU - Schneider, Kari
AU - Stukus, Kristin S.
AU - Weber, Emily
AU - Stich, Cassandra
AU - Chernick, Lauren S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/7/1
Y1 - 2024/7/1
N2 - Objectives More than 19 million adolescents seek care in the emergency department (ED) annually. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to confidential adolescent care among pediatric ED physicians. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire of US physician members of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee survey listserv. The 24-item questionnaire assessed familiarity with adolescent confidentiality laws, attitudes toward providing confidential care, frequency of discussing behavioral health topics confidentially, and factors influencing the decision to provide confidential care. We dichotomized Likert responses and used χ2 to compare subgroups. Results Of 476 eligible physicians, 151 (32%) participated. Most (91. 4%) had completed pediatric emergency medicine fellowship. More participants reported familiarity with all sexual health-related laws compared with all mental health-related laws (64% vs 49%, P < 0.001). The median age at which participants thought it was important to begin routinely providing confidential care was 12 years; 9% thought confidential interviews should not be routinely conducted until older adolescence or at all. Their decision to provide confidential care was influenced by the following: chief complaint (97%), time (43%), language (24%), presence of family (23%) or friends (14%), and space (22%). Conclusions Respondents reported moderate familiarity with adolescent confidentiality laws. Although they viewed confidential care as something they were comfortable providing, the likelihood of doing so varied. Barriers to confidential care were influenced by their assessment of adolescents' behavioral health risk, which may contribute to health inequity. Future efforts are needed to develop strategies that augment confidential ED care for adolescents.
AB - Objectives More than 19 million adolescents seek care in the emergency department (ED) annually. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to confidential adolescent care among pediatric ED physicians. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire of US physician members of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee survey listserv. The 24-item questionnaire assessed familiarity with adolescent confidentiality laws, attitudes toward providing confidential care, frequency of discussing behavioral health topics confidentially, and factors influencing the decision to provide confidential care. We dichotomized Likert responses and used χ2 to compare subgroups. Results Of 476 eligible physicians, 151 (32%) participated. Most (91. 4%) had completed pediatric emergency medicine fellowship. More participants reported familiarity with all sexual health-related laws compared with all mental health-related laws (64% vs 49%, P < 0.001). The median age at which participants thought it was important to begin routinely providing confidential care was 12 years; 9% thought confidential interviews should not be routinely conducted until older adolescence or at all. Their decision to provide confidential care was influenced by the following: chief complaint (97%), time (43%), language (24%), presence of family (23%) or friends (14%), and space (22%). Conclusions Respondents reported moderate familiarity with adolescent confidentiality laws. Although they viewed confidential care as something they were comfortable providing, the likelihood of doing so varied. Barriers to confidential care were influenced by their assessment of adolescents' behavioral health risk, which may contribute to health inequity. Future efforts are needed to develop strategies that augment confidential ED care for adolescents.
KW - adolescents
KW - confidentiality
KW - health equity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85197963201&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/PEC.0000000000003130
DO - 10.1097/PEC.0000000000003130
M3 - Article
C2 - 38355126
AN - SCOPUS:85197963201
SN - 0749-5161
VL - 40
SP - e94-e104
JO - Pediatric emergency care
JF - Pediatric emergency care
IS - 7
ER -