Association of Parental Use of Patient Portals with Breastfeeding Rates in Infants

Abstract

Our objective was to determine the association of parental use of patient portals with infant breastfeeding rates at six months of life. We performed a retrospective cohort study of infants age six to seven months born at ≥35 weeks gestational age between January 2017 and December 2018. We compared breastfeeding rates between infants of portal users versus non-portal users. Each group was comprised of 384 mother-infant dyads. The percentage of dyads breastfeeding among portal users and non-portal users were 48.7% and 44.3%, respectively. Overall, no statistically significant association was found between portal use and breastfeeding at six months in either unadjusted (OR 1.20; 95%CI 0.90–1.60) or multivariable analysis (OR0.92; 95%CI 0.68–1.30). More mothers in the portal use group breastfed at six months, but the difference was not statistically significant. Future prospective studies should focus on improving patient engagement through patient portals to realize potential benefits in improving breastfeeding rates.

Keywords:

• Breastfeeding
• engagement
• infant
• patient
• portal

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following people for contributing to the design of the study and review of the manuscript: Dr. Frank Esper, Dr. Kshama Daphtary, Dr. Tara Williams, and Dr. Anika Kumar. We also thank Michael Alexander-Leeks for his assistance with database access and Sarah Worley for her statistical support.

The study abstract was accepted for a poster presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2020 meeting.

Disclosure statement

The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships or potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chionye R. Ossai

Chionye R. Ossai is an attending physician in the Department of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Children’s. He’s also an assistant professor in Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. His research interest is in Consumer Health Informatics and studying how patients use technology to improve their health.

John McDonnell

John McDonnell is an Allergy/Immunology physician currently pursuing subspecialty immunodeficiency training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. His research interests include statistical methodology and transplant immunology.

Mohga Behairy

Mohga Behairy is a graduating pediatric resident from Cleveland Clinic Children’s, starting pediatric nephrology fellowship at UPMC Children’s. Her research interests are in reducing healthcare disparities and in pediatric nephrology.

Colleen Schelzig

Colleen Schelzig is Chair of the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Department at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. In addition to leading her department, her research and operational interests are in Health Informatics as well as physician Wellness and Burnout.

Lauren Larkin

Lauren Larkin graduated from Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and is a Pediatric intern at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. She earned her Bachelor of Chemistry from Howard University and Master of Science in Clinical Research from Case Western Reserve University. Her research interests include neonatal/infant nutrition and feeding, mental health, and medical education.

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones is a fourth-year medical student at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. She will be entering into a pediatric residency next year. Her research interests include pediatric health care and immunology.

Wei Liu

Wei Liu is a biostatistician (MS in Biostatistics, Case Western, US) in the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Cleveland Clinic. She collaborates closely with physicians in the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital on a variety of research studies and quality improvement projects. The topics covered, but not limited to, heart failure, kidney disease, NAFLD, IBD, food challenge, and new medical policy/guidelines. She also has a 7-year research experience in Chemistry (MS in Chemistry, Peking University, China).

Anirudha Das

Anirudha Das is a Neonatologist at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. His interests are Telemedicine, Epidemiology and Medical Education.