Social Ecological Examination of Factors That Influence the Treatment of Newborns With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Health care systems are challenged with issues of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) may be overdiagnosed with standardized assessment protocols and may be overtreated with current NICU-based models of care. Clinical approaches to caring for neonates with NAS and their families have not significantly changed for 40 years, and there is growing interest in revisiting long-standing routine practices. I used Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological systems framework to organize an exploration of factors that contribute to overdiagnosis and overtreatment in the care of neonates with NAS.