Impact of Screening and Co-located Parent Coaching Within Pediatric Primary Care on Child Health Care Use: A Stepped Wedge Design

Childhood adversity and toxic stress have been associated with poor mental and physical health. This study examined if Parent Connext, a program that integrates adversity screening and parent coaching by co-located specialists within pediatric primary care, had an impact on health care utilization. This stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated Parent Connext across six pediatric primary care practices. All practices (clusters) were in the control period during year 1. Three practices were randomized to begin the Parent Connext intervention in year 2, and three practices were randomized to begin in year 3. Medical records of all patients under age 8 treated at these practices during these 3 years were queried retrospectively for participant-level primary outcomes (sick visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations) and secondary outcomes (well-child and immunization adherence, referrals). The study sample included 27,419 patients followed for an average 1.39 (SD = 0.66) years in the control period and 1.07 (SD = 0.60) years in the intervention period. During the intervention period, patients had significantly fewer sick visits (IRR = 0.91, p < 0.001) which aligned with our hypothesis, decreased odds of well-child visit adherence (OR = 0.88, p < 0.001) which was unexpected, and increased odds of receiving a referral (OR = 1.45, p < 0.001). The odds of an emergency department visit, hospitalization, and 2-year immunization adherence did not differ between periods. Parent Connext resulted in a significant reduction in child sick visits, highlighting the potential benefit of two-generation approaches to pediatric care for child health.