Rises in opioid mortality coincides with child maltreatment report rises since the early 2000s. This project joins three literatures to consider mechanisms linking the opioid epidemic and child maltreatment that include: 1) social disorganization which implicates community-level characteristics such as residential mobility and poverty in deviant behaviors 2) geographic and temporal patterning of opioid mortality and 3) community-level substance use and child maltreatment. I combine data from the American Community Survey (ACS), CDC WONDER, and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) in a county-level analysis using fixed effects. I test the relationships between opioid mortality, poverty, residential mobility, and child maltreatment. Regression analyses show a positive association between opioid mortality and child maltreatment with variation across time. They also suggest that opioid mortality has a stronger association with child maltreatment in high poverty counties, and that counties with higher levels of residential mobility have a negative association between opioid mortality and child maltreatment for lower mortality levels. The findings imply that decreasing poverty, opioid mortality, and increasing residential mobility opportunity may decrease child maltreatment.
Venipuncture is a painful and invasive procedure for hospitalised newborns and represents a challenge for neonatal healthcare professionals. This study evaluated the most efficient cannulation method based on the proportion of success at the first attempt, standard care or near-infrared (NIR) device use, and pain assessment. An observational study with two arms was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a tertiary-care university hospital in Italy. All newborns undergoing peripheral vein cannulation and only nurses with more than 5 years of professional experience in the NICU were eligible for the first arm. Only newborns with a body weight of >2500 g at cannulation and all nurses working in the NICU were involved in the second arm. In the first arm of the study, no statistically significant differences between the NIR and control groups were found in terms of proportion of successful at the first attempt 60.6% (confidence interval [CI] 95%: 48.8; 72.4) vs. 56.1% (CI 95%: 44.1; 68.0) and the mean premature infant pain profile score 6.3 (CI 95%: 5.4-7.1) vs. 5.8 (CI 95%: 5.0-6.6). In the second arm, only among less experienced nurses (<1 year), we observed a significant increase in the proportion of success in the NIR group compared with the control group, nearly tripling the success rate (72.7% [54.1; 91.3] vs. 23.1% [0.2; 46.0]). Conclusion: This study reported no differences between the NIR and control groups. The results also suggest that using a NIR device may be advantageous for healthcare professionals with less experience during first-time cannulation. What is Known: • Venipuncture is a painful procedure commonly used to place a peripheral venous catheter for administering nutrients or drugs. • Near-infrared light facilitates the visualisation of veins and consequently, the performance of cannulation in the paediatric population. What is New: • The near-infrared light device was not associated with fewer attempts and a lower premature infant pain profile score in placing venous access in newborns than the traditional method. • The near-infrared light device could help nurses with less professional experience place a peripheral venous catheter.