Virginia Layng Millonig, PhD, RN, CPNP President, Health Leadership Associates

Potomac, Maryland

n Checking Out Children’s lifestyles Van Antwerp, C, & Spaniolo, A. M. (1991). The American lournal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 76, 3, 144-147.

S purred by an awareness of how children’s lifestyles affect their adult health as well as their current well- being, a group of pediatric nursing faculty devised a questionnaire to assess the lifestyles of school-age chil- dren. The purpose of the “Lifestyle Questionnaire for School-age Children” was to increase an awareness, for the child and parent, of activities that promote health and prevent injury. For the school staff, the question- naire, which takes approximately 10 minutes to com- plete, provides data so that they can assess the health education needs of children. First, the questionnaire focuses on health promotion (11 items), recognizing that school-age children are a relatively healthy group. Questions reflect the growing awareness that diet and exercise are two elements of children’s lifestyles that will affect their adult health. Second, the questionnaire fo- cuses on injury prevention (15 items), because injuries continue to be a significant source of health problems for children in this age group. The third and final section deals with feelings (5 items). The authors believe that nurses can use the questionnaire to assess the health habits of school-age children in a variety of settings and thereby heighten parental awareness of activities that promote health and protect children from injury. The authors found the lifestyle questionnaire useful also for large group assessment.

n Cefixime Compared with Amoxicillin for Treatment of Acute Otitis Media Johnson, C. E., Carlin, S. A., Super, D. M., Rehmus, 1. M., Roberts, D. G., Christopher, N. C., Whitwell, J. K., & Shurin, P. A. (1991). The journal of Pediatrics, 7 19, 1, 117-l 22.

C efixime was compared with amoxicillin for treat- ment of acute otitis media in a randomized trial. Results of tympanocentesis on day 3 to 5 of therapy were used as the major outcome. One hundred twenty-six patients

JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC HEALTH CARE

participated in the study and were randomly assigned treatment. Pathogens were eradicated from the middle ear after 3 to 5 days of therapy in 27 of 34 children who were given amoxicillin and 26 of 30 children who were given cefixime. Pathogens associated with failure of amoxicillin therapy were H. inJuenzae, S. pneuww- niae, and A4waxella catawldis. The four failures with cefixime therapy were all in patients infected with S. pneunwniae. Rates of rash, diarrhea, and vomiting were the same in both groups and did not necessitate stopping therapy. The authors concluded that cefixime and amoxicillin were equivalent in overall clinical and bacteriologic efficacy for otitis media, that cefixime was more efficacious than arnoxicillin in treating H. injh- enzm otitis media and should be preferred when H. in$uenzae is the suspected etiologic agent, and that side effects of both drugs were mild and similar.

n Health and Safety in Day Care: Parental Knowledge Rassin, M. R., Beach, P. S., McCormick, D. P., Niebuhr, V. N., & Weller, S. (1991). Clinical Pediatrics, 30, 6, 344-349.

B ecause of the injuries and illnesses that occur among children even in licensed day care facilities, the authors felt that parents needed to be aware of existing hazards. A questionnaire was developed by the authors to assess parental knowledge of 16 health and safety features in child care facilities. Well-educated parents who were employees in a health care institution with children in day care at least 20 hours per week were selected. A total of 301 questionnaires were distributed; 91 were completed. Results indicated that even well-educated parents often do not check child care facilities for health and safety features. Parents tolerated a mean of 9.3% of 16 unsafe features and did not know the status of 22.4% features. Fifteen percent of the children had been removed from their child care facilities because of health and safety concerns; 7.7% of parents reported an injury. Conclusions from this survey suggest that health care professionals, while conducting well child visits, must include discussions about health and safety issues in the day care environment.

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