May 18, 2018: The PCORnet Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study: Using PCORnet Data for Longitudinal Observational Research

Speaker

Christopher B. Forrest, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics & Health Care Management
PI, PEDSnet, A National Pediatric Learning Health System
Director, Center for Applied Clinical Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania

L. Charles Bailey, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania

Jason Block, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
PI, PCORnet Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study

Topic

The PCORnet Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study: Using PCORnet Data for Longitudinal Observational Research

Keywords

PCORnet; Antibiotics; Childhood obesity; Weight outcomes; Antibiotic association; Growth; Common data model; NIH Collaboratory Trial; Observational research

Key Points

  • PCORnet is a national infrastructure for people-centered clinical research. PCORnet embodies a “network of networks” that harnesses the power of partnerships.
  • The PCORnet Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study provided an opportunity to “test” the capabilities of PCORnet in determining how the network would aid in providing data related to an important research question.
  • The PCORnet Antibiotics Study aimed to assess the association between antibiotic use before age 2 and childhood weight outcomes.
  • The Antibiotics Study helped a team of investigators better understand parents’ and providers’ beliefs about risks and benefits of antibiotic use, while also understanding how potential risks of future obesity could be integrated into parents’ and providers’ decision making when discussing the use of antibiotics.
  • 28 PCORnet partners and 36 healthcare institutions contributed to the Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study.

Discussion Themes

The more PCORnet’s capabilities are utilized by other studies, the easier it will be to use. While there are still some challenges, a consistent effort to continue utilizing the network will make the benefits more plentiful and far-reaching.

The PCORnet Antibiotics Study was funded for 2 years and was able to include data from 362,000 children. Because the data are captured systematically, PCORnet is able to dramatically impact the way studies are conducted and the amount of progress that can be done in a short amount of time. While there is still progress to be made around institutional attribution, among other things, incremental improvements are being made and benefits are being seen.

Some areas for potential improvement for PCORnet include an agreement to make contributions to one another’s research through support of and contribution to the network, an extension of the Common Data Model, and solving the multi-institutional contracting dilemma.

For more information on the PCORnet Antibiotics and Childhood Growth Study, visit www.pcornet.org and follow @PCORnetwork.

 

Tags

@jasonpblock, @PCORnetwork, #pctGR, @Collaboratory1