Pediatric Lead Screening in the United States: A Comparative Analysis

The purpose of this project is identification of approaches to pediatric lead screening in the United States by each of the fifty states and evaluation of whether best practice is being utilized. Data was obtained from publicly available state based websites and interaction with state departments; there were no participants in this project. The data was compared and contrasted among each of the fifty states and against current screening recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. Only one state, Delaware, has screening recommendations current with CDC standards. There is a large amount of variation between how state approaches pediatric lead screening. Several recommendations were proposed for the improvement of pediatric lead screening in the United States, including the following; all test results be reported in every state, states should assess need for screening universally versus screening Medicaid-eligible children only, states update their geographic risk areas yearly, screening recommendations be made available in a single area, and all questionnaire include questions about symptoms, lead sources, hand washing, and children with risk