1. Texas Pediatric Society Electronic Poster Contest
Reading Education and Resource Allocation with the Effect on Reading Times in the Pediatric Population
Ryan Gates MS3, Jacob Maher MS3, Joie Cavazos MS3, Janika Prajapati MS3, Devon Laughlin MS3, Andrea Johnson MS3, Cecelia Drennen MS3, Elyssa Yantis MD, Mark Wolffarth MD
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
There was a statistically significant difference in the days spent reading with the patients before and after intervention assessed with a two-tailed paired t-test with a p-value of with statistical significance defined as a p-value of < However, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in the categories: time spent reading and importance of reading with p-values of 0.11 and respectively.
The average perceived importance of reading to children was greater than 9/10 in each group before and after intervention, as seen in Table 2.
The most common reason for limited time to read with their children was “parental schedule” (44% of respondents), followed by “responsibilities to other children” (28%).
The most commonly requested resources were “reading program” (36%) and “library card” (33%). \
Figure 1. Number of reading days before and after intervention
Figure 2. Number of minutes spent reading per session before and after intervention
Table 2. Parents’ Perceived Importance of Reading in Childhood
Introduction
Reading aloud to children is an important method of developing the parent-child bond, increasing ASQ scores, and predicting better grades and overall IQs when compared to children who were not read aloud to at an early age1,2,3. Though teachers, parents, and medical providers agree that reading aloud to children is beneficial to their development, this aspect of wellness is not always routinely discussed in the medical setting. In addition, observations of patients at our clinic show many children “pacified” with games on phones, tablets and other devices rather than direct interaction of parent and child. Barriers limiting parent-child reading were proposed to be restrictions on parental time, lack of resources to obtain print materials, and lack of education on the specific benefits of reading to children.
Abstract
Reading is quintessential to the development of a child's mind. However, this aspect of wellness is not routinely discussed in the medical setting. We aimed to assess the amount caregivers read to their children, understand barriers preventing them in doing so, and intervene to further emphasize the importance of reading. All patients were between 2 weeks and 10 years of age present at the general pediatric clinic at UTMB. All data was collected using questionnaires. No statistical difference was found between the two groups in the categories of either time spent reading nor importance of reading with p-values of 0.11 and respectively. However, there was a statistically significant difference in the days spent reading with the patients before and after our intervention with a p-value of and the average perceived importance of reading to children was greater than 9/10 in each group. Despite the results not highlighting a statistical significant difference in the two categories listed above, the average importance of reading score increased after the intervention suggesting that discussion about reading as well as provision of books and other resources is a beneficial intervention. Based on our results, we would urge physicians to adopt a similar program in their daily practice.
Description of study
Our project was conducted at the primary care pediatric clinic in one location at the University of Texas Medical Branch and included patients assigned to the SCOPE (Student Continuity of Practice Experience) student panel between the ages of 2 weeks and 10 years, including both the English and Spanish speaking population reporting to the clinic for well child care, sick visits, and follow up visits.
To develop a baseline knowledge of the reading importance among our general population at our clinic, we first conducted a preliminary survey where we collected data with no intervention over the course of 1 month.
Following collection of preliminary data, a second survey series was conducted with the following guidelines:
Survey provided after initial history retrieval by student before any counseling was provided with measures listed in Table 1.
Upon return with faculty, counseling about reading was provided highlighting the importance of regular reading with/to children of all ages and an age-appropriate book was supplied to the families.
3-4 weeks later, attempts to contact the families were begun via telephone, , or the EMR messaging system and a follow up survey was provided either in the form of an online version of the survey or verbally.
Data was collected and tabulated in a Google Spreadsheet and a two-tailed paired t-test was performed to assess statistical significance using Google Spreadsheet.
Table 1. Survey on Time Spent Reading with Children and Perceived Importance
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that discussion about reading as well as provision of books and other resources may increase frequency of parents reading to their children.
Four of the five survey respondents who initially scored the importance of reading under 10 had children under the age of 5, suggesting that parents may not realize that reading to children is important at a young age.
Although the majority of parents rated the importance of reading as a “10” initially, not all of these parents were spending much time reading to their children suggesting that though many parents may appreciate the value of reading, certain barriers such as lack of time or availability of books contribute to decreased reading to their children. Discussion with parents about strategies to manage their time in a way that prioritizes consistently reading to their children may be beneficial.
The number of parents in this study requesting information about library cards and/or reading programs also suggests that these resources may not be advertised adequately to the public, therefore emphasizing the importance of physician knowledge about these resources in order to best assist parents.
Opportunities for future study on this topic include investigating various other interventions, such as strategies for time management, as well investigating these interventions in a greater number of patients with a greater variety of backgrounds.
Overall, this study suggests that discussion about reading as well as provision of books and other resources is an intervention that positively impacts parent-to-child reading and, therefore, physicians should consider including it in daily practice.
Results
References
More parents reported reading with their child 7 or more times per week after the educational intervention vs before (16 respondents vs 5), as seen in Figure 1.
Of the 27 parents who responded to the follow up survey, 21 of them (78%) either increased the number of reading sessions per week, the length of each reading session, or both, with their child, as seen in Figure 2.
Of the remaining six parents, three of them reported having read the maximum amount of sessions listed on the survey (7 or more) for the maximum amount of time (20-30 minutes or more) both before and after the intervention.
Murray, Aisling, Egan Suzanne. Does reading to infants benefit their cognitive development at 9 months old? An investigation using a large birth cohort survey. Child language teaching and therapy. 2014; 30(3): DOI: / Accessed January 3, 2017.
Pillinger, Claire; Wood, Clare. Pilot study evaluating the impact of dialogic reading and shared reading at transition to primary school: early literacy skills and parental attitudes. Literacy. 2014; 48(3), DOI: /lit Accessed January 3, 2017.
Sparks RL, Patton Jon, Murcoch Amy. Early reading success and its relationship to reading achievement and reading volume: replication of ’10 years later. Reading and Writing. 2014; 27(1), DOI: /s Accessed January 3, 2017.
Texas Pediatric Society Electronic Poster Contest
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