PREGNANCY AND CHILD HEALTH

Primary Source of Funding: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Total Project Period: September 2000 – September 2001
Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gabriel J. Escobar, MD
Description: This project will perform exploratory analyses in prenatal health services research using Kaiser Permanente data sets to design more complex projects that will enhance our future collaborations with Harvard University.

Primary Source of Funding: United Cerebral Palsy Foundation
Total Project Period: January 2001 – December 2001
Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gabriel J. Escobar, MD
Description: Choroamnionitis is a treatable condition associated with severe consequences to newborns in the immediate neonatal period. This study seeks to determine whether it is also associated with long-term consequences (cerebral palsy) and whether such consequences are affected by maternal treatment with intrapartum antibiotics.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: De-Kun Li, MD, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Sequoia Foundation
Total Project Period: January 2000 – January 2002
Description: This study will determine whether drinking tap water during pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of spontaneous abortion.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Annette Aalborg, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
Total Project Period: January 2002 – April 2004
Description: The goal of this study is to examine issues related to the feasibility of implementation and perceived value of a brief physical activity and nutrition counseling intervention delivered in the context of a well child visit from the perspective of providers and patients.

Primary Source of Funding: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Total Project Period: December 1999 – October 2001
Division of Research Principal Investigator: Annette Aalborg, PhD
Description: This study will test the feasibility and effectiveness of providing reproductive health counseling in a managed care setting for adult women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy and/or STD/HIV infection. In-person counseling and telephone follow-up will be available at the point of obtaining a pregnancy test for women who receive a negative pregnancy test and do not want to be pregnant. Effectiveness will be measured by assessing short-term behavioral changes related to preventing unintended pregnancy and/or STD/HIV infection.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: De-Kun Li, MD, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: California Department of Health Services
Total Project Period: April 2003 – March 2004
Description: This study will search for any confounding factors that may explain the observed association between magnetic field exposure and the risk of miscarriage on a previously defined cohort of Kaiser Permanente members.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gabriel J. Escobar, MD
Primary Source of Funding: Kaiser Permanente Garfield Memorial Foundation
Total Project Period: June 2001 – May 2003
Description: The goal of this project is to identify operational deficiencies and assist Kaiser Permanente Quality Departments in their review of high-risk events in obstetrics.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD|
Primary Source of Funding: Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
Total Project Period: Janury 2003 – December 2003
Description: This retrospective cohort study will examine the risk of neurologic impairment in early childhood associated with a history of placental thrombosis.

Primary Source of Funding: California Public Health Foundation
Total Project Period: May 1996 – June 2001
Division of Research Principal Investigator: De-Kun Li, MD, PhD
Description: This study will 1) determine whether exposure to an EMF increases the risk of spontaneous abortion of a clinically confirmed pregnancy, 2) determine whether prenatal EMF exposure increases the risk of spontaneous abortion in a susceptible subgroup of women who have a history of subfertility and/or multiple spontaneous abortions, 3) provide preliminary information on the relationship of prenatal EMF exposure with time to pregnancy and with the risk of other pregnancy outcomes including low birth weight, preterm delivery and still birth, and 4) create a database and establish a well-defined study population for possible future study of the effect of EMF exposure on reproductive outcomes.

Project Period: December 1999 – December 2001
Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gabriel J. Escobar, MD
Description: Using the “Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology, version II (SNAP-II),” the objective of this study is to develop a predictive model for resource consumption among newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care.

Primary Source of Funding: Kaiser Permanente Garfield Memorial Fund
Total Project Period: May 1998 - December 2003
Division of Research Principal Investigator: Gabriel J. Escobar, MD
Description: This study will 1) deploy the neonatal minimum data set database at the Exempla St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, 2) define what differences, if any, exist in neonatal rehospitalization rates between Colorado and Northern California, 3) define evidence-based strategies to decrease neonatal jaundice, severe neonatal dehydration and rehospitalization for jaundice and dehydration at all severity levels, and 4) assist the Kaiser Permanente, Colorado Division, in developing a research capability in maternal and child health.

Division of Research Principal Investigator: Lisa Croen, PhD
Primary Source of Funding: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Total Project Period: October 2001 – September 2002
Description: This project will examine whether there are variations in the patterns of maternal health care among subpopulations (maternal age, race/ethnicity, education) and will assess the potential usefulness of selected maternal health care quality indicators in predicting health outcomes for pregnant women and children at birth, one year after delivery, and 3-5 years after delivery.