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Neonatal abstinence syndrome: Effectiveness of targeted umbilical cord drug screening

Abstract

Objective

This study sought to determine if targeted drug screening of newborns was effective in identifying a positive drug test result.

Study design

This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. A total of 340 infants met criteria for drug screening. Sensitivity and specificity were used to evaluate each of the potential risk factors in terms of their ability to predict a positive drug test result. Two-sample t-tests were used to compare differences in Finnegan scores between babies with a positive drug test result and those with a negative one.

Result

The risk factor with the highest sensitivity was maternal history of drug use. The difference in the Finnegan scores between groups was statistically significant.

Conclusion

The risk factors associated with this study were not very sensitive. The only way to identify all infants at risk of NAS is to standardize the screening process and apply to all infants.

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Fig. 1: Initial data request resulted in 6230 medical record numbers (N = 6230).

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Nicole Garritano, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC, for her help in reviewing this manuscript and providing editing recommendations as well as providing support and guidance during final revisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

AJK was the principal investigator in this study and was responsible for the concept and design of the study, the IRB application, collection of data and statistical analysis, figure and table creation, and was the sole writer of the manuscript and made all revisions in collaboration with the co-authors. MKR provided substantial contributions to the acquisition of data, statistical analysis, and interpretation of data. She also was involved in the revisions to improve intellectual content. LKS provided substantial contributions to the concept and design of this study and the acquisition of data. She also was involved in the revisions to improve intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alecia J. Karr.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

An IRB application was submitted to the University of Kentucky’s and Baptist Health Lexington’s IRB and both were approved in September 2019, including a waiver of informed consent.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Karr, A.J., Rayens, M.K. & Scott, L.K. Neonatal abstinence syndrome: Effectiveness of targeted umbilical cord drug screening. J Perinatol 42, 1038–1043 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01457-8

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