At-Risk Tots Gain From In-Home Nurse Visits

In-home nurse visits for prenatal care for at-risk mothers, along with 2 years of early childhood support for their kids, boosted children's behavioral and attention assessments years later, researchers reported.

For children born to first-time, low-income mothers, in-home nurse visits lowered the risk of behavioral disorders compared with controls at ages 6 (risk ratio 0.45, 95% CI 0.18-1.15) and 9 (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.36-1.61, P=0.46), reported David L. Olds, PhD, of the University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues.

However, there were no improvements in intellectual functioning and academic achievement in children who were born to low-income mothers and received nurse visits, they wrote online in JAMA Pediatrics.

"The findings from this trial suggest that if we are going to improve the life chances of our most vulnerable children, we must shift public policy toward investments in a range of complementary interventions early in life that have strong evidentiary foundations and capacities for quality implementation," the authors concluded.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/43245

The abstract: http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1785480