Summaries of Independent Scientist (K) Awards

Lightdale, Jenifer

Institution:  Children's Hospital Boston
Grant Title: Improving Safety of Pediatric Sedation
Grant Number: K08 HS013675
Duration: 4 years (2003-2007)
Total Award: $629,000

Project Description: This proposal has three main goals:

1. To use robust, precise methods to prospectively assess intolerance, other adverse events and medical errors during sedation for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and other non-surgical procedures.
2. To utilize regression modeling to develop prediction rules to improve the safety of sedation for children undergoing this procedure.
3. To tailor existing taxonomies to classify medical errors associated with IV sedation for endoscopy and other non-surgical procedures.

Career Goals: Dr. Lightdale is a trained pediatric gastroenterologist. In the short term, Dr. Lightdale plans to gain:

• Formal education in the quantitative and qualitative tools necessary for conducting health services research.
• Substantial training in the study of patient safety and improvement strategies for pediatric healthcare.
• Valuable mentorship to ensure her progress towards becoming an independent clinical scientist.

Her long-term goal is to develop prediction rules for determining safe sedation regiments for children undergoing GI procedures that may lead to generalizable improvement strategies for pediatric sedation.

 Progress to Date: Dr. Lightdale received her Master's Degree in Public Health (M.P.H.) from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2004. She successfully completed a controlled trial of microstream capnography for improving patient safety during conscious sedation for pediatric procedures. This study received a Patient Safety Award from the Risk Management Foundation. Dr. Lightdale founded and directs a Patient Safety Research Group at Children's Hospital. In the past year, she has codified and performed preliminary analysis on primary data to determine the incidence of intolerance and other adverse events during procedural sedation and analgesia administered for non-surgical procedures at a pediatric hospital.

Future Plans:  Dr. Lightdale will increase her time spent on data analysis, and preparation of manuscripts for peer review based on her findings. Additionally, she will pursue coursework in quality improvement and patient safety research methodology.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Professional appointments:
  • Clinical Associate in Pediatrics, University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco (UCSF).
  • Clinical Fellow in Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston.
  • Instructor in Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
  • Instructor in Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston.

K-Generated Publications:

• Lightdale JR. Sedation and analgesia in the pediatric patient. Gastrolintestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America 2004;14:385-99.
• Lightdale JR; Goldmann DA, Feldman HA, et al. Microstream capnography improves patient monitoring during moderate sedation: A randomized controlled trial. Accepted to Pediatrics, 12/28/2005 (in press, June 2006).

AHRQ Research Portfolio: Quality and Patient Safety; Care Management; Training.
AHRQ Goals: Safety and Quality

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