Impact of Interdisciplinary Team Care for Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate disease-specific guideline adherence among children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome receiving multidisciplinary team care through a 22q specialty clinic compared to children not receiving team care.

DESIGN

Retrospective chart review; quality improvement project.

SETTING

Tertiary care pediatric hospital.

PATIENTS: One hundred eighty-nine patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome were categorized into those receiving team care and those not receiving team care. Guideline adherence was compared between the 2 groups.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Percent adherence across 8 disease-specific guidelines.

RESULTS

A Welch t test revealed mean adherence among patients receiving team care was significantly higher (83% vs 42%, P < .001) compared those not receiving team care. Among team patients with a single 22q Center visit, a paired samples t test showed that mean adherence increased from 63% before the clinic encounter to 86% six months after the encounter (P < .001). Some guidelines were more likely to be associated with provider nonadherence, whereas others were more likely to be associated with patient nonadherence.

CONCLUSIONS

Multidisciplinary team care is associated with significantly higher guideline adherence in children with 22q11DS. Additional research is needed to investigate the effect of team care on long-term health outcomes in children with 22q11DS.