Using an Integrated EHR Questionnaire to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment in Pediatric Headache: Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

" The reason we developed all of this is because there's millions of patients with headache, and there's not millions of us to be able to provide the care. If we could develop something that essentially helps someone who has relatively less training in headache to do a better job taking care of their patients, then that could help us move the needle forward in terms of getting people diagnosed quicker, getting people treated quicker."

In pediatrics, headache is a common symptom among children and thus, it is important conduct a thorough physical examination to make the definitive diagnosis. According to research, nearly 1 in 10 pediatric patients experience recurring headaches because of migraine, which can impact their performance in school and their overall quality of life.¹ Despite the available acute and preventive migraine treatments and several trials, having an accurate diagnosis for patients can be a challenge in the clinic.

Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE, director of the Pediatric Headache Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) gave the Harold G. Wolff Award Lecture titled “Use of EHR-Integrate Patient Headache Questionnaire Improves Diagnostic” at the 2023 American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Meeting, June 15-18, in Austin, Texas.² In the lecture, she discussed the potential of using the questionnaire to not only improve the accuracy of diagnosis but also to help patients receive more targeted therapies for their condition.

Szperka sat down in an interview with NeurologyLive® at the meeting to provide an overview of her presentation, sharing some of the main takeaways. She talked about how the integrated EHR questionnaire can improve the odds of specific diagnoses for pediatric headache. Also, she discussed the importance of patients receiving a more accurate diagnosis and how the availability of the EHR questionnaire in the foundation system for EHRs can potentially benefit healthcare institutions and patient care.

Click here for more coverage of AHS 2023.

REFERENCES
1. Szperka C. Headache in Children and Adolescents. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2021;27(3):703-731. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000993
2. Szperka C. Use of EHR-Integrate Patient Headache Questionnaire Improves Diagnostic Specificity. Presented at: AHS Annual Meeting, 2023; June 15-18; Austin, TX. Harold G. Wolff Award Lecture.