BACKGROUND: Host biomarkers predict disease severity in adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We evaluated the association of the white blood cell (WBC) count, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin with the development of severe outcomes in children with CAP. METHODS:We performed a prospective cohort study of children 3 months to 18 years of age with CAP in the emergency department. The primary outcome was disease severity: mild (discharged from the hospital), mild-moderate (hospitalized but not moderate-severe or severe), moderate-severe (eg, hospitalized with receipt of intravenous fluids, supplemental oxygen, complicated pneumonia), and severe (eg, intensive care, vasoactive infusions, chest drainage, severe sepsis). Outcomes were examined within the cohort with suspected CAP and in a subset with radiographic CAP.RESULTS: Of 477 children, there were no statistical differences in the median WBC count, ANC, CRP, or procalcitonin across severity categories. No biomarker had adequate discriminatory ability between severe and nonsevere disease (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.53-0.6 for suspected CAP and 0.59-0.64 for radiographic CAP). In analyses adjusted for age, antibiotic use, fever duration, and viral pathogen detection, CRP was associated with moderate-severe disease (odds ratio 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-1.25). CRP and procalcitonin revealed good discrimination of children with empyema requiring chest drainage (AUC: 0.83) and sepsis with vasoactive infusions (CRP AUC: 0.74; procalcitonin AUC: 0.78), although prevalence of these outcomes was low.CONCLUSIONS: WBC count, ANC, CRP, and procalcitonin are generally not useful to discriminate nonsevere from severe disease in children with CAP, although CRP and procalcitonin may have some utility in predicting the most severe outcomes. WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Prognostic tools are limited for children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Host biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin, have been shown to be associated with severe clinical outcomes in adults with CAP. Data in children are limited.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: White blood cell count, CRP, and procalcitonin are generally not useful to discriminate overall disease severity in children with CAP. CRP and procalcitonin may have utility in predicting the most severe outcomes, but research is necessary to validate these findings.

Background: Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation is associated with adverse health outcomes. We sought to determine if neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation was associated with adherence to immunosuppressive medications after liver transplantation. Methods:We conducted a secondary analysis of a multicenter, prospective cohort of children enrolled in the Medication Adherence in children who had a Liver Transplant study (enrollment 2010-2013). Participants (N=271) received a liver transplant ≥1 year prior to enrollment and were subsequently treated with tacrolimus. The primary exposure, connected to geocoded participant home addresses, was a neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation index (range 0-1, higher indicates more deprivation). The primary outcome was the Medication Level Variability Index (MLVI), a surrogate measure of adherence to immunosuppression in pediatric liver transplant recipients. Higher MVLI indicates worse adherence behavior; values ≥2.5 are predictive of late allograft rejection.Findings: There was a 5% increase in MLVI for each 0.1 increase in deprivation index (95%CI: −1%, 11%, p=0.08). Roughly 24% of participants from the most deprived quartile had an MLVI

BACKGROUND: Disparities in health service use have been described across a range of sociodemographic factors. Patterns of PICU use have not been thoroughly assessed. METHODS: This was a population-level, retrospective analysis of admissions to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center PICU between 2011 and 2016. Residential addresses of patients were geocoded and spatially joined to census tracts. Pediatric patients were eligible for inclusion if they resided within Hamilton County, Ohio. PICU admission and bed-day rates were calculated by using numerators of admissions and bed days, respectively, over a denominator of tract child population. Relationships between tract-level PICU use and child poverty were assessed by using Spearman's r and analysis of variance. Analyses were event based; children admitted multiple times were counted as discrete admissions. RESULTS: There were 4071 included admissions involving 3129 unique children contributing a total of 12 297 PICU bed days. Child poverty was positively associated with PICU admission rates (r = 0.59; P , .001) and bed-day rates (r = 0.47; P , .001). When tracts were grouped into quintiles based on child poverty rates, the PICU bed-day rate ranged from 23.4 days per 1000 children in the lowest poverty quintile to 81.9 days in the highest poverty quintile (P , .001). CONCLUSIONS: The association between poverty and poor health outcomes includes pediatric intensive care use. This association exists for children who grow up in poverty and around poverty. Future efforts should characterize the interplay between patient-and neighborhoodlevel risk factors and explore neighborhood-level interventions to improve child health. WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Poverty adversely affects health. The health impacts of socioeconomic status and poverty occur at the individual and community levels. Socioeconomic disparities in PICU use have not been as robustly assessed compared with other medical disciplines. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Socioeconomic disparities extend to pediatric critical illness. Neighborhood poverty affects children' s need for intensive care. We argue that this association represents more than an aggregate of individual risk factors, and the interplay of individual and community demographics merits further investigation.