Improving Anxiety Detection in Pediatrics Using Health Information Technology

The rapid rate at which childhood mental health and behavioral (MHB) disorders are being identified in primary care practice represents a public health crisis that demands critical examination. Approximately 20% of children and adolescents suffer from a MHB disorder each year. The most commonly recognized childhood MHB disorder is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Since 2001, when clinical care guidelines were published to help primary care physicians identify ADHD early and initiate psychotropic treatment, ADHD identification has rapidly increased. Children with ADHD are at increased risk of having co-morbid disorders, such as anxiety and depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and learning disabilities, with ADHD symptoms presenting first. Primary care physicians encounter children with symptoms as severe as those in psychiatry clinics; yet a majority in primary care physicians feel ill-equipped to handle MHBs other than ADHD. Two particularly common and vexing problems that can co-occur or masquerade as ADHD are learning disabilities and anxiety. ADHD and anxiety often share behaviors of inattention as the presenting complaint, yet the treatment is quite different. Pediatric anxiety is even more prevalent than ADHD, but often goes undetected and untreated.

In order to improve the detection of ADHD and co-morbidities and prevent undue polypharmacy, validated screening tools are essential in the primary care setting. However, general pediatric practice is fast paced and high volume. Clearly, the ideal diagnostic evaluation of children with symptoms of inattention would involve concurrent administration of validated screening tools for ADHD and anxiety, despite the constraints of a busy pediatric practice. The investigators believe health information technology combined with ongoing quality improvement with input from providers and families can achieve this ideal.

At our institution, we have a computer decision support system, the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system that routinely conducts surveillance and screening of commonly encountered pediatric topics. The investigators will build upon the existing ADHD CHICA module, which conducts annual surveillance for inattentive symptoms and integrate validated screening tool for anxiety, associated surveillance items and prompts for the pediatrician to begin to improve the identification of ADHD and anxiety.

Aim 1: Expand and modify the CHICA decision support system to improve the diagnostic processes for screening of children with inattention, including screening in the waiting room, physician prompts, and tailored diagnostic and brief counseling tools.

Aim 2: Improve physician awareness of identification and referral patterns for children presenting with inattentive symptoms by providing run charts for each physician of their screening, referral and medication prescribing patterns paired with facilitated discussion to share strategies to improve diagnostic process and obtain preliminary feedback for future health information technology development of a comprehensive anxiety module.