News & Publications

PROS- (Pediatric Research in Office Settings)- Spring 2011 Update
By: Deborah M. Greenhouse, MD, FAAP – South Carolina PROS Coordinator

The PROS network conducts nationwide office based research studies to answer questions that pediatricians deal with every day.  In addition, PROS is now venturing into the realm of research using electronic medical records.

Current studies in the field include:

Translating an Effective Teen Driving Program for Parents to Primary Care – A very exciting study funded by the CDC with the goal of promoting safe driving practices among new teen drivers. This study will disseminate a proven teen driving program among pediatricians in selected states and will study how well this information can be communicated to parents and teens.

Adolescent Smoking Cessation in Pediatric Primary Care (Smokebusters) – A study designed to introduce and evaluate an intervention to help teens with smoking cessation. Pilot studies are complete and the full study will begin recruiting practices this spring. This study is a great way to experience the value of PROS and to help your teen patients with smoking cessation.

Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE) - A study designed to eliminate exposure of children to secondhand smoke by an intervention targeted to the parents and other caretakers. Data collection is currently in progress.

Cotinine Measurement Study – The goal is to measure cotinine as a marker of smoke exposure and use this as a tool for parent education. Process and acceptability pilot has just completed data collection. This is the first PROS study to use biological samples by collecting urine samples from infants and young children for cotinine measurement.

Studies in the Pipeline Include a Dental Health Study – A study to improve identification of victims of physical abuse and the use of “Common Factors” to help address mental health topics during pediatric visits.

PROS has also been discussing the possibility of a study in conjunction with the National Institute of Child Health and Development to address the use of atypical antipsychotics in children and the medical consequences of their use.

Electronic PROS Network – PROS is investigating the use of Electronic Health Records in pediatric research. This will allow PROS to collect more data with far more details. The possibilities are endless!

There are opportunities within the PROS network at all levels of participation- study participation, manuscript writing and review and many other options.  PROS is a great way to participate in research while maintaining a busy office practice.

More information about PROS can be found at the PROS website at www.aap.org/pros. Click on JOIN PROS for the registration form and read more about current and upcoming studies.. Contact Debbie Greenhouse MD at 803-779-4001 or dmgreenhouse@aap.net for more information.