Body of knowledge

A major replication study has confirmed effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model, a novel autism early intervention co-developed by UC Davis Health researchers and used worldwide. Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the multi-site randomized trial found that children receiving the therapy at home for an average of 15 hours per week made significantly greater language gains than kids in community interventions.

A first-of-its-kind study led by UC Davis Health has uncovered dramatic differences in the brains of Hispanics with dementia compared with those of non-Hispanic whites and African Americans. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the study found Hispanics were much more likely to have cerebrovascular disease. Hispanics and African Americans were also more likely to have mixed pathologies.

High-risk younger siblings of children with autism are less likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, have significantly lower symptom severity, and higher cognitive scores if their mothers take maternal prenatal vitamins during the first month of pregnancy, according to novel UC Davis Health research published in JAMA Psychiatry. If replicated, the results imply genetic susceptibility could potentially be overcome by prenatal multivitamins.

Fear of psychiatric hospitalization is one of the primary reasons that older men — an age and gender group at high risk for ending their own lives — don’t talk about suicide with their physicians, UC Davis Health researchers reported in the journal Patient Education and Counseling. The finding emerged as part of a pre-launch stakeholder assessment of MAPS, a UC Davis-created intervention.

A national research team has derived and validated a new protocol for emergency departments that can determine which infants with fevers are at low risk of significant bacterial infections. The findings published in JAMA Pediatrics have important implications for selecting invasive care such as spinal taps, antibiotics or hospitalizations.

Later-born siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk to develop both disorders, according to UC Davis Health research in JAMA Pediatrics. Authors suggested that families with a diagnosed child may wish to monitor younger siblings for symptoms of both conditions.