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Follow-up Evaluation of Home Nurse Visitation Program for Socially Disadvantaged Women and Their Children

Not Applicable
Conditions
Risk Reduction Behavior
Interventions
Behavioral: Developmental Screening
Behavioral: Screening plus Transportation
Behavioral: Screening, Transport, Prenatal Visits
Behavioral: Screen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf Visits
Registration Number
NCT00443586
Lead Sponsor
University of Colorado, Denver
Brief Summary

This study will evaluate the long-term effects of a prenatal and early childhood home nurse visitation program for socially disadvantaged women and their children.

Detailed Description

Nearly half a million children are born each year to single, low-income mothers. Children born to socially disadvantaged mothers are more likely to experience chronic health problems, encounter child abuse and neglect, and receive insufficient health care. Home visitation by nurses during pregnancy and early childhood may prevent a wide range of health and developmental problems in children born to women who are either teenagers, unmarried, or of low economic status.

This study is associated with a home nurse visitation program that first began with 400 socially disadvantaged pregnant women between the years of 1977 and 1980 in an upstate New York semi-rural county. Participants in the original study were randomly assigned to participate in the home nurse visitation program or receive comparison services from pregnancy until the child's second birthday. Participants assigned to receive comparison services were provided with free transportation for prenatal and child care, as well as sensory and developmental screening for the child. Participants assigned to the home nurse visitation program were visited at home by a nurse 9 times during pregnancy and 23 times during the child's first 2 years of life. A follow-up study concluded that the home nurse visitation program reduced the number subsequent pregnancies, use of welfare, child abuse and neglect, and criminal behavior on the part of the socially disadvantaged mothers for up to 15 years after the birth of their first child.

This follow-up study will determine whether a home nurse visitation program has continued long-term effects on a child's health and development, 27 years later. Specifically, this study will evaluate whether the nurse-visited young adult offspring differ from the comparison group in their economic productivity; rates of child abuse and neglect; criminal behavior; mental health; abuse of substances; use of welfare, foster care, and healthcare in relation to government expenditures; and quality of their partnered relationships. Participants within the nurse-visited program group will be compared with each other to determine whether certain characteristics or factors, such as genetic vulnerabilities, environmental risks, or a history of child abuse, make someone less likely to benefit from a home nurse visitation program.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
345
Inclusion Criteria
  • Offspring of mothers who had participated in Elmira, N.Y. randomized clinical trial of prenatal and infant/toddler home visiting by nurses.
  • Participants needed to be at least 27 years of age.
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Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

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Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Screening plus TransportationDevelopmental ScreeningParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two).
Screening, Transport, Prenatal VisitsScreening, Transport, Prenatal VisitsParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy.
Screen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf VisitsScreening plus TransportationParticipants received regular sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy and through child age two.
Developmental ScreeningDevelopmental ScreeningParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age.
Screening, Transport, Prenatal VisitsScreening plus TransportationParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy.
Screen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf VisitsDevelopmental ScreeningParticipants received regular sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy and through child age two.
Screen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf VisitsScreening, Transport, Prenatal VisitsParticipants received regular sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy and through child age two.
Screening plus TransportationScreening plus TransportationParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two).
Screening, Transport, Prenatal VisitsDevelopmental ScreeningParticipants received sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy.
Screen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf VisitsScreen, Transport, Prenatal/Inf VisitsParticipants received regular sensory and developmental screening and referral for further evaluation and treatment of suspected problems at 12 and 24 months of age; their mothers received free transportation for regular prenatal and well-child care (through child age two), plus nurse home visiting during pregnancy and through child age two.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Economic productivity (e.g., unemployment, employment in jobs with limited opportunities for career growth, use of welfare, rates of out-of-wedlock births)Measured when child turns 27 years old
Quality of partnered relationships (violence, commitment, and communication)Measured when child turns 27 years old
Rates of child abuse and neglectMeasured when child turns 27 years old
Rates of criminal behavior, arrests, convictions, and imprisonmentMeasured when child turns 27 years old
Government expenditures and higher tax revenuesMeasured when child turns 27 years old
Mental health and abuse of substancesMeasured when child turns 27 years old
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Development Services (CIDS)

🇺🇸

Elmira, New York, United States

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