Adolescents

Early childhood exposure to screen time is becoming more common as mobile devices and televisions are part of most households. That is the same time when children, especially those in their first 3 years, are having an explosion of language and acquiring their speech and language skills. Screen time, especially on mobile devices, can be useful to keep children entertained at home and on the go. However, children who have more screen time may have fewer chances to talk with others, affecting their speech and language development. Current guidelines recommend that children younger than 18 months should not have any screen exposure, and children aged 2 to 5 years should be limited to 1 hour of screen time per day.

Current studies show that screen time keeps children from hearing adult words. Children and parents both vocalize or talk less when children engage with screens. There are also fewer back-and-forth conversations between children and caregivers. Spending more time with screens, even background television, may result in reductions in speech. Having a language-rich home environment promotes strong language skills, school readiness, and healthy brain development. If a child does engage with screens, there are ways to support speech development. Some ways to watch and use screens are better than others.

Author/s:

Lillian E. Sutton, Lindsay A. Thompson

Does This Child Have a Concussion?: The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review

Megan George — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:08:13 +0000

Date Added:

April 9, 2026

Journal/Publication:

JAMA

Publication Date:

April 6, 2026

URL:

Does This Child Have a Concussion?: The Rational Clinical Examination Systematic Review

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Poster

DOI (1):

10.1001/jama.2026.1233

Keywords

PMID (1):

41941197

MeSH

A review of the evaluation of children with head injuries to detect evidence of concussion. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Importance: Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury with associated abnormalities in brain function, rather than structural injury. An estimated 1.1 million to 1.9 million pediatric concussions occur annually in the US.

Objective: To determine the accuracy of clinical history and physical examination findings for identifying concussion in children and adolescents who have had a plausible mechanism of injury.

Data sources and study selection: PubMed, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched from January 2002 through December 2025 without language restrictions. Observational studies including patients aged 2 to 18 years evaluated for concussion in outpatient, emergency, or inpatient settings were included.

Data extraction and synthesis: Four reviewers independently extracted study characteristics and diagnostic accuracy data and assessed study quality with the Rational Clinical Examination levels of evidence.

Main outcomes and measures: Sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios (LRs) for symptoms and physical signs associated with concussion were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis when summary measures were appropriate.

Results: Of 7110 screened abstracts, 23 studies (level 4 evidence; case-control design) met inclusion criteria. The presence of mental fog (LR, 11.8-12.0; specificity, 0.96), noise sensitivity (LR, 6.9; 95% CI, 3.6-13.1; specificity, 0.94), nausea (LR, 6.7; 95% CI, 3.1-14.6; specificity, 0.93), and light sensitivity (LR, 6.4; 95% CI, 2.1-19.7; specificity, 0.93) were most useful for increasing the likelihood of a concussion diagnosis. The absence of headache was the most useful symptom for decreasing the likelihood of concussion (LR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.10-0.39; sensitivity, 0.74). Signs that increased the likelihood of concussion were abnormal near-point convergence, which is the inability to maintain ocular convergence on a near target (LR, 7.0; 95% CI, 2.0-24.9; specificity, 0.97); abnormal smooth pursuits, which are jerky, irregular eye movements when tracking a target (LR, 6.5; 95% CI, 2.4-17.5; specificity, 0.96); and saccades, which are inaccurate or slow eye movements with overshooting or undershooting when looking between 2 or more targets (LR, 4.8; 95% CI, 1.8-13.1; specificity, 0.92); however, none of these findings had a sensitivity of more than 0.40. A consensus statement by the International Conference on Concussion in Sport recommends the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool to systematize the comprehensive evaluation of patients with symptoms concerning for concussion.

Conclusions and relevance: While no single finding was sufficient to confirm or exclude concussion, the presence of mental fog, noise and light sensitivity, nausea, or ocular abnormalities were most useful to identify patients more likely to have had a concussion, while absence of a headache made a concussion less likely. These symptoms and signs are integrated into structured clinical assessments to support the clinical diagnosis and management of pediatric concussion.

Author/s:

Sonal N. Shah, Haley M. Chizuk, Hiu-Fai Fong

What Parents Should Know About Fire Safety

Megan George — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:14:44 +0000

Date Added:

January 28, 2026

Journal/Publication:

JAMA

Publication Date:

January 26, 2026

URL:

What Parents Should Know About Fire Safety

Type:

Patient Education Materials

Format:

Poster

DOI (1):

10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.5724

Keywords

PMID (1):

41587069

MeSH

Fire safety information for parents. James W. Mold, MD, MPHJ

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Many of these injuries are preventable by taking simple steps to make your home safer and knowing what to do when a fire occurs. Most accidental home fires start from cooking, heating equipment, electrical items, or smoking materials. Never leave food unattended on the stove while cooking. Use the back burners, when possible, to keep the hot stove surface and the hot pots and pans out of young children’s reach. Keep a fire extinguisher readily available in the kitchen, and make sure all caregivers know how to use it. Place space heaters away from anything that can catch fire, and always turn them off before going to bed or leaving the room. Ensure fireplaces and wood stoves are screened so that young children are not accidentally burned. This ensures embers stay inside, too. To prevent electrical fires, cover all unused electrical outlets, avoid overloading outlets, and replace any old cords. If you smoke, avoid doing so in the home, especially in bed. Carefully dispose of smoking waste, such as cigarette butts, used matches, and ashes.

If there is a fire, a smoke alarm can warn you to leave the home early and safely. Ensure that a smoke alarm is present on each floor and near every bedroom, avoiding areas like the kitchen to prevent false alarms. Check your smoke alarms monthly and change the batteries once a year unless your alarm has long-life batteries. If you need help, the local fire department can check your fire alarms and can often provide free new ones or replacements. Families with caregivers or children with hearing impairments should use alarms that include flashing lights.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas created from fuel-burning heaters, cars, generators, and appliances. Many smoke alarms are combined with carbon monoxide detectors. If your smoke alarms are not, install a separate carbon monoxide detector on each floor of your home.

A fire escape plan prepares families to understand how to safely exit each room in the home during a fire. To create a fire escape plan, draw a simple map of your home showing 2 escape routes from each room. If you live in an apartment, talk to your children about the importance of using the stairs and avoiding elevators during fires. Establish a common meeting place outside the house. Review the plan with your whole family and with caregivers, such as babysitters, so everyone knows what to do. Practice your escape plan every 6 months so everyone becomes familiar. Children younger than 5 years will need a caregiver to help them during a fire.

Author/s:

Mickey A Emmanuel, Mikhail Goldenberg, Lindsay A Thompson