Biomedical subjects

Annette C Da Costa

Publications and source records attributed to Annette C Da Costa.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

SMS text messaging improves outpatient attendance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the operational and financial efficacy of sending short message service (SMS) text message reminders to the mobile telephones of patients with scheduled outpatient clinic appointments. DESIGN: Cohort study with historical control. SETTING: Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria. PATIENTS: Patients who gave a mobile telephone contact number and were scheduled to attend an outpatient clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne in October, November and December 2004 (trial group) or in October, November and December 2003 (historical control group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Failure-to-attend (FTA) rate compared between the trial group, whose members were sent a reminder, and the historical control group, whose members were not sent a reminder. Financial benefits versus cost of sending reminders. RESULTS: 22,658 patients with a mobile telephone contact number scheduled to attend an outpatient clinic appointment in October, November and December 2004 were sent an SMS reminder; 20,448 (90.2%) of these patients attended their appointment. The control group included 22,452 patients with a mobile telephone contact number scheduled to attend an appointment, with 18,073 (80.5%) patients attending. The FTA rate was significantly lower in the trial group than in the historical control group (9.8% v 19.5%; P < 0.001). The cost of sending the SMS reminders was small compared with the increase in patient revenue and associated benefits generated as a result of improved attendance. CONCLUSIONS: The observed reduction in FTA rate was in line with that found using traditional reminder methods and a prior pilot study using SMS. The FTA reduction coupled with the increase in patient revenue suggests that reminding patients using SMS is a very cost effective approach for improving patient attendance.

Appointments and Schedules↗

PubMed2006

Intellectual outcomes in children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis.

BACKGROUND: Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of the skull bones, is a congenital deformity that has functional and morphologic implications. Cranial vault reconstructive surgery is required to improve skull shape and increase intracranial volume. Craniosynostosis disorders carry a risk of brain insult and associated neurologic and cognitive dysfunction. This study investigated the long-term effects of craniosynostosis on intelligence in children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic disorders who had undergone cranial expansion surgery during infancy. METHODS: Global intellectual evaluations were obtained on 31 children aged 7 to 16 years with mixed syndromic (n = 13) and nonsyndromic (n = 18) craniosynostoses. Results of intellectual assessment were compared with norm-referenced data. Age at surgery and gender comparisons were also made. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD general intelligence quotient of the total sample was within the average range (intelligence quotient, 95.6 +/- 21.2). Intellectual functioning was significantly lower in children with syndromic craniosynostosis (mean intelligence quotient, 83.1 +/- 21.9) than nonsyndromic craniosynostosis (mean intelligence quotient, 104.7 +/- 15.8). The majority of children with syndromic craniosynostosis (77 percent) were of normal intelligence. Children with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis did not display obvious evidence of intellectual dysfunction. There were no age or gender differences in intellectual outcomes in this sample. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are contrary to the historical impression that has regarded syndromic craniosynostosis as synonymous with intellectual disability. Children with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis are of normal intelligence during their school-age years.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Use of SMS text messaging to improve outpatient attendance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of appointment reminders sent as short message service (SMS) text messages to patients' mobile telephones on attendance at outpatient clinics. DESIGN: Cohort study with historical control. SETTING: Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria. PATIENTS: Patients who gave a mobile telephone contact number and were scheduled to attend any of five outpatient clinics (dermatology, gastroenterology, general medicine, paediatric dentistry and plastic surgery) in September (trial group) or August (control group), 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Failure to attend (FTA) rate compared between the group sent a reminder and those who were not. RESULTS: 2151 patients were scheduled to attend a clinic in September; 1382 of these (64.2%) gave a mobile telephone contact number and were sent an SMS reminder (trial group). Corresponding numbers in the control group were 2276 scheduled to attend and 1482 (65.1%) who gave a mobile telephone number. The FTA rate for individual clinics was 12%-16% for the trial group, and 19%-39% for the control group. Overall FTA rate was significantly lower in the trial group than in the control group (14.2% v 23.4%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The observed reduction in failure to attend rate was in line with that found using traditional reminder methods. The ease with which large numbers of messages can be customised and sent by SMS text messaging, along with its availability and comparatively low cost, suggest it may be a suitable means of improving patient attendance.

Ambulatory Care↗

PubMed2005

Neuropsychological diversity in Apert syndrome: a comparison of cognitive profiles.

Apert syndrome is characterized by craniosynostosis, central nervous system anomalies, midface hypoplasia, and syndactyly. Current research has focused on genetic and neurologic correlates. Cognitive assessment has been primarily limited to global intellectual evaluations, which can fail to detect the diverse cognitive attributes of these children at an individual level. This report describes in detail the neuropsychological profiles of 2 children with Apert syndrome, incorporating clinical, radiographic, molecular and surgical data. One child showed intellectual deficits consistent with a moderate intellectual disability. The second child, while of normal intelligence, displayed neuropsychological deficits associated with anterior-brain-region cognitive functions. These data highlight the diversity of neuropsychological outcomes in Apert syndrome in the same genetic mutation and underline the importance of detailed neuropsychological evaluations as integral to the management protocols of affected individuals.

Acrocephalosyndactylia↗