Appraisal of Australian and New Zealand paediatric sepsis guidelines

OBJECTIVE

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are an important tool for the management of children with sepsis. The quality, consistency and concordance of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) childhood sepsis CPGs with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (ACSQHC) sepsis clinical care standards and international sepsis guidelines is unclear.

METHODS

We accessed childhood sepsis CPGs for all ANZ states and territories through Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative members. The guidelines were assessed for quality using the AGREE-II instrument. Consistency between CPG treatment recommendations was assessed, as was concordance with the ACSQHC sepsis clinical care standards and international sepsis guidelines.

RESULTS

Overall, eight CPGs were identified and assessed. CPGs used a narrative and pathway format, with those using both having the highest quality overall. CPG quality was highest for description of scope and clarity of presentation, and lowest for editorial independence. Consistency between guidelines for initial treatment recommendations was poor, with substantial variation in the choice and urgency of empiric antimicrobial administration; the choice, volume and urgency of fluid resuscitation; and the choice of first-line vasoactive agent. Most CPGs were concordant with time-critical components of the ACSQHC sepsis clinical care standard, although few addressed post-acute care. Concordance with international sepsis guidelines was poor.

CONCLUSION

Childhood sepsis CPGs in current use in ANZ are of variable quality and lack consistency with key treatment recommendations. CPGs are concordant with the ACSQHC care standard, but not with international sepsis guidelines. A bi-national sepsis CPG may reduce unnecessary variation in care.

Features Associated With Radiographic Pneumonia in Children with SARS-CoV-2

14% of children with SARS-CoV-2 infections had radiographic pneumonia. Hypoxemia, cough, higher temperature, and older age were associated with pneumonias. In children tested, SARS-CoV-2 test results were not associated with radiographic pneumonia.

Understanding the uptake and adaption of targeted implementation interventions for reducing bronchiolitis investigations and therapies

AIM

To understand and evaluate the uptake and local adaptations of proven targeted implementation interventions that have effectively reduced unnecessary investigations and therapies in infants with bronchiolitis within emergency departments.

METHODS

A multi-centred, mixed-methods quality improvement study in four Australian hospitals that provide paediatric emergency and inpatient care from May to December 2021. All hospitals were provided with the same implementation intervention package and training. Real-time tracking logs of adaptions were completed followed by semi-structured interviews. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and subsequently coded using FRAME-IS to further describe the adaptions made.

RESULTS

Tracking logs were summarised and data from 12 interviews were compared from participating sites. The intervention resulted in 116 education sessions and a total of 23 adaptations made to educational materials, both content and contextual. Shortening education presentations, addition of bronchiolitis definitions, formatting of materials and novel interventions were the most common modifications. Audit and feedback were completed across all sites with varying utilisation. Targeted teaching was noted to dictate adaptions prior to and during implementation.

CONCLUSION

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of clinical 'real-world' adaptations to proven targeted implementation interventions allows invaluable insight for future de-implementation initiatives and national roll-out of implementation packages in the ED setting.

Facial Function in Bell Palsy in a Cohort of Children Randomized to Prednisolone or Placebo 12 Months After Diagnosis

BACKGROUND

Information on the medium-term recovery of children with Bell palsy or acute idiopathic lower motor neuron facial paralysis is limited.

METHODS

We followed up children aged 6 months to <18 years with Bell palsy for 12 months after completion of a randomized trial on the use of prednisolone. We assessed facial function using the clinician-administered House-Brackmann scale and the modified parent-administered House-Brackmann scale.

RESULTS

One hundred eighty-seven children were randomized to prednisolone (n = 93) or placebo (n = 94). At six months, the proportion of patients who had recovered facial function based on the clinician-administered House-Brackmann scale was 98% (n = 78 of 80) in the prednisolone group and 93% (n = 76 of 82) in the placebo group. The proportion of patients who had recovered facial function based on the modified parent-administered House-Brackmann scale was 94% (n = 75 of 80) vs 89% (n = 72 of 81) at six months (OR 1.88; 95% CI 0.60, 5.86) and 96% (n = 75 of 78) vs 92% (n = 73 of 79) at 12 months (OR 3.12; 95% CI 0.61, 15.98).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the vast majority had complete recovery of facial function at six months, there were some children without full recovery of facial function at 12 months, regardless of prednisolone use.

Pain in children with Bell's palsy: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To describe the prevalence and severity of pain experienced by children with Bell's palsy over the first 6 months of illness and its association with the severity of facial paralysis.

METHODS

This was a secondary analysis of data obtained in a phase III, triple-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of prednisolone for the treatment of Bell's palsy in children aged 6 months to <18 years conducted between 13 October 2015 and 23 August 2020 in Australia and New Zealand. Children were recruited within 72 hours of symptom onset and pain was assessed using a child-rated visual analogue scale (VAS), a child-rated Faces Pain Score-Revised (FPS-R) and/or a parent-rated VAS at baseline, and at 1, 3 and 6 months until recovered, and are reported combined across treatment groups.

RESULTS

Data were available for 169 of the 187 children randomised from at least one study time point. Overall, 37% (62/169) of children reported any pain at least at one time point. The frequency of any pain reported using the child-rated VAS, child-rated FPS-R and parent-rated VAS was higher at the baseline assessment (30%, 23% and 27%, respectively) compared with 1-month (4%, 0% and 4%, respectively) and subsequent follow-up assessments. At all time points, the median pain score on all three scales was 0 (no pain).

CONCLUSIONS

Pain in children with Bell's palsy was infrequent and primarily occurred early in the disease course and in more severe disease. The intensity of pain, if it occurs, is very low throughout the clinical course of disease.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12615000563561.

Pragmatic Adaptive Trial for Respiratory Infection in Children (PATRIC) Clinical Registry protocol

INTRODUCTION

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are the most common cause of paediatric hospitalisation. There is an urgent need to address ongoing critical knowledge gaps in ARI management. The Pragmatic Adaptive Trial for Respiratory Infections in Children (PATRIC) Clinical Registry will evaluate current treatments and outcomes for ARI in a variety of paediatric patient groups. The registry will provide a platform and data to inform a number of PATRIC clinical trials, testing various interventions in ARI treatment and management to optimise paediatric ARI care.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The PATRIC Clinical Registry is a single-centre, prospective observational registry recruiting from a tertiary paediatric Emergency Department in Western Australia. Through characterising demographic, clinical, treatment and outcome data, the PATRIC Clinical Registry will improve our understanding of antibiotic utilisation and ARI outcomes in children.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The PATRIC Clinical Registry is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (CPMP/ICH/13595) July 1996. Approval is provided by the Child and Adolescent Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Study results will be communicated by presentation and publication (HREC: RGS0000003078.) TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12619000903189. UTN: U1111-1231-3365.

Sepsis epidemiology in Australan and New Zealand children (SENTINEL): protocol for a multicountry prospective observational study

INTRODUCTION

Sepsis affects 25.2 million children per year globally and causes 3.4 million deaths, with an annual cost of hospitalisation in the USA of US$7.3 billion. Despite being common, severe and expensive, therapies and outcomes from sepsis have not substantially changed in decades. Variable case definitions, lack of a reference standard for diagnosis and broad spectrum of disease hamper efforts to evaluate therapies that may improve sepsis outcomes. This landscape analysis of community-acquired childhood sepsis in Australia and New Zealand will characterise the burden of disease, including incidence, severity, outcomes and cost. Sepsis diagnostic criteria and risk stratification tools will be prospectively evaluated. Sepsis therapies, quality of care, parental awareness and understanding of sepsis and parent-reported outcome measures will be described. Understanding these aspects of sepsis care is fundamental for the design and conduct of interventional trials to improve childhood sepsis outcomes.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This prospective observational study will include children up to 18 years of age presenting to 12 emergency departments with suspected sepsis within the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative network in Australia and New Zealand. Presenting characteristics, management and outcomes will be collected. These will include vital signs, serum biomarkers, clinician assessment of severity of disease, intravenous fluid administration for the first 24 hours of hospitalisation, organ support therapies delivered, antimicrobial use, microbiological diagnoses, hospital and intensive care unit length-of-stay, mortality censored at hospital discharge or 30 days from enrolment (whichever comes first) and parent-reported outcomes 90 days from enrolment. We will use these data to determine sepsis epidemiology based on existing and novel diagnostic criteria. We will also validate existing and novel sepsis risk stratification criteria, characterise antimicrobial stewardship, guideline adherence, cost and report parental awareness and understanding of sepsis and parent-reported outcome measures.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethics approval was received from the Royal Children's Hospital of Melbourne, Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/69948/RCHM-2021). This included incorporated informed consent for follow-up. The findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at academic conferences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12621000920897; Pre-results.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Characteristics and Symptoms in Preschool Children: How Do They Differ to School Age Children? A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate if preschool children differ to school age children with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) with respect to injury causes, clinical presentation, and medical management.

DESIGN

A secondary analysis of a dataset from a large, prospective and multisite cohort study on TBI in children aged 0-18 years, the Australian Paediatric Head Injury Rules Study.

SETTING

Nine pediatric emergency departments (ED) and 1 combined adult and pediatric ED located across Australia and New Zealand.

PARTICIPANTS

7080 preschool aged children (2-5 years) were compared with 5251 school-age children (6-12 years) with mild TBI (N= (N=12,331) MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical report form on medical symptoms, injury causes, and management.

RESULTS

Preschool children were less likely to be injured with a projectile than school age children (P<.001). Preschool children presented with less: loss of consciousness (P<.001), vomiting (P<.001), drowsiness (P=.002), and headache (P<.001), and more irritability and agitation (P=.003), than school-age children in the acute period after mild TBI. Preschool children were less likely to have neuroimaging of any kind (P<.001) or to be admitted for observation than school age children (P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our large prospective study has demonstrated that preschool children with mild TBI experience a different acute symptom profile to older children. There are significant clinical implications with symptoms post-TBI used in medical management to aid decisions on neuroimaging and post-acute intervention.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on the Association Between Laboratory Tests and Severe Outcomes Among Hospitalized Children

Background

To assist clinicians with identifying children at risk of severe outcomes, we assessed the association between laboratory findings and severe outcomes among severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected children and determined if SARS-CoV-2 test result status modified the associations.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of participants tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection in 41 pediatric emergency departments in 10 countries. Participants were hospitalized, had laboratory testing performed, and completed 14-day follow-up. The primary objective was to assess the associations between laboratory findings and severe outcomes. The secondary objective was to determine if the SARS-CoV-2 test result modified the associations.

Results

We included 1817 participants; 522 (28.7%) SARS-CoV-2 test-positive and 1295 (71.3%) test-negative. Seventy-five (14.4%) test-positive and 174 (13.4%) test-negative children experienced severe outcomes. In regression analysis, we found that among SARS-CoV-2-positive children, procalcitonin ≥0.5 ng/mL (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 9.14; 95% CI, 2.90-28.80), ferritin >500 ng/mL (aOR, 7.95; 95% CI, 1.89-33.44), D-dimer ≥1500 ng/mL (aOR, 4.57; 95% CI, 1.12-18.68), serum glucose ≥120 mg/dL (aOR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.06-3.81), lymphocyte count <1.0 × 109/L (aOR, 3.21; 95% CI, 1.34-7.69), and platelet count <150 × 109/L (aOR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.31-6.07) were associated with severe outcomes. Evaluation of the interaction term revealed that a positive SARS-CoV-2 result increased the associations with severe outcomes for elevated procalcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and for reduced lymphocyte and platelet counts.

Conclusions

Specific laboratory parameters are associated with severe outcomes in SARS-CoV-2-infected children, and elevated serum procalcitonin, CRP, and D-dimer and low absolute lymphocyte and platelet counts were more strongly associated with severe outcomes in children testing positive compared with those testing negative.

Increasing emergency department visits for anaphylaxis in very early childhood: A canary in the coal mine

AIM

The incidence of anaphylaxis is increasing globally in tandem with changing environmental and lifestyle factors. There is very limited data on very early childhood presentations. We aim to assess changes in rates, characteristics and management of infant anaphylaxis in a paediatric ED over a 15-year period.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of children <2 years of age who presented with verified anaphylaxis comparing cases in years 2003-2007 with those in 2013-2017. Standardised information was collected on demographics, clinical presentation, management and triggers.

RESULTS

Manually confirmed anaphylaxis rates in <2 year olds increased from 3.6 to 6.2 per 104 population (OR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3-2.7; p < 0.001) with the greatest increase in <1 year olds. Anaphylaxis severity increased between 2003-2007 and 2013-2017 (OR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2-4.3; p = 0.018). Failure to administer adrenaline was reduced in 2013-2017 (p = 0.007). Food was the leading anaphylaxis trigger (97.85%).

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to suggest an increase in the incidence and severity of ED anaphylaxis presentations in children aged <2 years. Increased awareness of specific characteristics in this age group is required to facilitate timely recognition and optimal management. Further large-scale studies are warranted to understand underlying environmental drivers and find prevention strategies to reduce the burden of disease.

A surge in human metapneumovirus paediatric respiratory admissions in Western Australia following the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 non-pharmaceutical interventions

AIM

Western Australian laboratory data demonstrated a decrease in human metapneumovirus (hMPV) detections through 2020 associated with SARS-CoV-2-related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), followed by a subsequent surge in metropolitan region in mid-2021. We aimed to assess the impact of the surge in hMPV on paediatric hospital admissions and the contribution of changes in testing.

METHODS

All respiratory-coded admissions of children aged <16 years at a tertiary paediatric centre between 2017 and 2021 were matched with respiratory virus testing data. Patients were grouped by age at presentation and by ICD-10 AM codes into bronchiolitis, other acute lower respiratory infection (OALRI), wheeze and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). For analysis, 2017-2019 was utilised as a baseline period.

RESULTS

hMPV-positive admissions in 2021 were more than 2.8 times baseline. The largest increase in incidence was observed in the 1-4 years group (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.5-5.9) and in OALRI clinical phenotype (IRR 2.8; 95% CI: 1.8-4.2). The proportion of respiratory-coded admissions tested for hMPV in 2021 doubled (32-66.2%, P < 0.001), with the greatest increase in wheeze (12-75% in 2021, P < 0.001). hMPV test percentage positivity in 2021 was higher than in the baseline period (7.6% vs. 10.1% in 2021, P = 0.004).

CONCLUSION

The absence and subsequent surge underline the susceptibility of hMPV to NPIs. Increased hMPV-positive admissions in 2021 can be partially attributable to testing, but test-positivity remained high, consistent with a genuine increase. Continued comprehensive testing will help ascertain true burden of hMPV respiratory diseases.

Evaluation of targeted implementation interventions for reducing investigations and therapies in infants with bronchiolitis

AIM

To evaluate the impact of locally adapted targeted implementation interventions on bronchiolitis management through reduction in ineffective investigation and therapies within emergency departments.

METHODS

A multi-centred, quality improvement study in four different grades of hospitals in Western Australia who provide paediatric emergency and inpatient care. All hospitals incorporated an adapted implementation intervention package for infants under 1 year with bronchiolitis. The proportion whose care complied with guideline recommendations to not receive investigations and therapies of minimal benefit were compared to pre-intervention care in a previous bronchiolitis season.

RESULTS

457 infants in 2019 (pre-intervention) and 443 in 2021 (post-intervention) were included, with mean age 5.6 months (SD 3.2, 2019; SD 3.0, 2021). In 2019, compliance was 78.1% versus 85.6% in 2021, RD 7.4 (95%CI -0.6;15.5). The strongest evidence was reduced salbutamol use (compliance improvement: 88.6% to 95.7%, RD 7.1 95%CI (1.7;12.4). Hospitals initially at <80% compliance demonstrated greatest improvements (Hospital 2: 95 (78.5%) to 108 (90.8%) RD 12.2 95%CI (3.3;21.2); Hospital 3: 67 (62.6%) to 63 (76.8%) RD 14.2 95%CI (1.3;27.2).

CONCLUSION

Targeted site-adapted implementation interventions resulted in improvement in compliance with guideline recommendations, particularly for those hospitals with initial low compliance. Maximising benefit through guidance on how to adapt and effectively use interventions will enhance sustainable practice change.

Incidence of traumatic brain injuries in head-injured children with seizures

OBJECTIVE

Incidence and short-term outcomes of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI) in head-injured children presenting to ED with post-traumatic seizure (PTS) is not described in current literature.

METHODS

Planned secondary analysis of a prospective observational study undertaken in 10 Australasian Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) network EDs between 2011 and 2014 of head-injured children <18 years with and without PTS. Clinical predictors and outcomes were analysed by attributable risk (AR), risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), including the association with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores.

RESULTS

Of 20 137 head injuries, 336 (1.7%) had PTS with median age of 4.8 years. Initial GCS was 15 in 268/336 (79.8%, AR -16.1 [95% CI -20.4 to -11.8]), 14 in 24/336 (7.1%, AR 4.4 [95% CI 1.6-7.2]) and ≤13 in 44/336 (13.1%, AR 11.7 [95% CI 8.1-15.3]) in comparison with those without PTS, respectively. The ciTBI rate was 34 (10.1%) with PTS versus 219 (1.1%) without PTS (AR 9.0 [95% CI 5.8-12.2]) with 5/268 (1.9%), 6/24 (25.0%) and 23/44 (52.3%) with GCS 15, 14 and ≤13, respectively. In PTS, rates of admission ≥2 nights (34 [10.1%] AR 9.0 [95% CI 5.8-12.3]), intubation >24 h (9 [2.7%] AR 2.5 [95% CI 0.8-4.2]) and neurosurgery (8 [2.4%] AR 2.0 [95% CI 0.4-3.7]), were higher than those without PTS. Children with PTS and GCS 15 or 14 had no neurosurgery, intubations or death, with two deaths in children with PTS and GCS ≤13.

CONCLUSIONS

PTS was uncommon in head-injured children presenting to the ED but associated with an increased risk of ciTBI in those with reduced GCS on arrival.

Pharmacological Emergency management of Agitation in Children and Young people: protocol for a randomised controlled trial of intraMuscular medication (PEAChY-M)

INTRODUCTION

Acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) is a condition seen with increasing frequency in emergency departments (EDs) in adults and young people. Despite the increasing number of presentations and significant associated risks to patients, families and caregivers, there is limited evidence to guide the most effective pharmacological management in children and adolescents. The aim of this study is to determine whether a single dose of intramuscular olanzapine is more effective than intramuscular droperidol at successfully sedating young people with ASBD requiring intramuscular sedation.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This study is a multicentre, open-label, superiority randomised controlled trial. Young people aged between 9 and 17 years and 364 days presenting to an ED with ASBD who are deemed to require medication for behavioural containment will be recruited to the study. Participants will be randomised in a 1:1 allocation between a single weight-based dose of intramuscular olanzapine and intramuscular droperidol. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants who achieve successful sedation at 1-hour post randomisation without the need for additional sedation. Secondary outcomes will include assessing for adverse events, additional medications provided in the ED, further episodes of ASBD, length of stay in the ED and hospital and satisfaction with management.Effectiveness will be determined using an intention-to-treat analysis, with medication efficacy determined as part of the secondary outcomes using a per-protocol analysis. The primary outcome of successful sedation at 1 hour will be presented as a percentage within each treatment group, with comparisons presented as a risk difference with its 95% CIs.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethics approval was received from the Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/69948/RCHM-2021). This incorporated a waiver of informed consent for the study. The findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at academic conferences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12621001238864.

Pharmacological emergency management of agitation in children and young people: protocol for a randomised controlled trial of oral medication (PEAChY-O)

INTRODUCTION

Acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) is a condition seen with increasing frequency in emergency departments (EDs) in adults and young people. Despite the increasing number of presentations and significant associated risks to patients, families and caregivers, there is limited evidence to guide the most effective pharmacological management in children and adolescents. The aim of this study is to determine whether a single dose of oral olanzapine is more effective than a dose of oral diazepam at successfully sedating young people with ASBD.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This study is a multicentre, open-label, superiority randomised controlled trial. Young people aged between 9 years and 17 years and 364 days presenting to an ED with ASBD who are deemed to require medication for behavioural containment will be recruited to the study. Participants will be randomised in a 1:1 allocation between a single weight-based dose of oral olanzapine and oral diazepam. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants who achieve successful sedation at 1-hour post randomisation without the need for additional sedation. Secondary outcomes will include assessing for adverse events, additional medications provided in the ED, further episodes of ASBD, length of stay in the ED and hospital and satisfaction with management.Effectiveness will be determined using an intention-to-treat analysis, with medication efficacy determined as part of the secondary outcomes using a per-protocol analysis. The primary outcome of successful sedation at 1 hour will be presented as a percentage within each treatment group, with comparisons presented as a risk difference with its 95% CIs.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethics approval was received from the Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/66478/RCHM-2020). This incorporated a waiver of informed consent for the study. The findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at academic conferences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ACTRN12621001236886.

Predicting the causative pathogen among children with pneumonia using a causal Bayesian network

BACKGROUND

Pneumonia remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death among young children worldwide, and the diagnostic challenge of differentiating bacterial from non-bacterial pneumonia is the main driver of antibiotic use for treating pneumonia in children. Causal Bayesian networks (BNs) serve as powerful tools for this problem as they provide clear maps of probabilistic relationships between variables and produce results in an explainable way by incorporating both domain expert knowledge and numerical data.

METHODS

We used domain expert knowledge and data in combination and iteratively, to construct, parameterise and validate a causal BN to predict causative pathogens for childhood pneumonia. Expert knowledge elicitation occurred through a series of group workshops, surveys and one-on-one meetings involving 6-8 experts from diverse domain areas. The model performance was evaluated based on both quantitative metrics and qualitative expert validation. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate how the target output is influenced by varying key assumptions of a particularly high degree of uncertainty around data or domain expert knowledge.

RESULTS

Designed to apply to a cohort of children with X-ray confirmed pneumonia who presented to a tertiary paediatric hospital in Australia, the resulting BN offers explainable and quantitative predictions on a range of variables of interest, including the diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia, detection of respiratory pathogens in the nasopharynx, and the clinical phenotype of a pneumonia episode. Satisfactory numeric performance has been achieved including an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.8 in predicting clinically-confirmed bacterial pneumonia with sensitivity 88% and specificity 66% given certain input scenarios (i.e., information that is available and entered into the model) and trade-off preferences (i.e., relative weightings of the consequences of false positive versus false negative predictions). We specifically highlight that a desirable model output threshold for practical use is very dependent upon different input scenarios and trade-off preferences. Three commonly encountered scenarios were presented to demonstrate the potential usefulness of the BN outputs in various clinical pictures.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first causal model developed to help determine the causative pathogen for paediatric pneumonia. We have shown how the method works and how it would help decision making on the use of antibiotics, providing insight into how computational model predictions may be translated to actionable decisions in practice. We discussed key next steps including external validation, adaptation and implementation. Our model framework and the methodological approach can be adapted beyond our context to broad respiratory infections and geographical and healthcare settings.

Effect of Early High-Flow Nasal Oxygen vs Standard Oxygen Therapy on Length of Hospital Stay in Hospitalized Children With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: The PARIS-2 Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE

Nasal high-flow oxygen therapy in infants with bronchiolitis and hypoxia has been shown to reduce the requirement to escalate care. The efficacy of high-flow oxygen therapy in children aged 1 to 4 years with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure without bronchiolitis is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of early high-flow oxygen therapy vs standard oxygen therapy in children with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A multicenter, randomized clinical trial was conducted at 14 metropolitan and tertiary hospitals in Australia and New Zealand, including 1567 children aged 1 to 4 years (randomized between December 18, 2017, and March 18, 2020) requiring hospital admission for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. The last participant follow-up was completed on March 22, 2020.

INTERVENTIONS

Enrolled children were randomly allocated 1:1 to high-flow oxygen therapy (n = 753) or standard oxygen therapy (n = 764). The type of oxygen therapy could not be masked, but the investigators remained blinded until the outcome data were locked.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcome was length of hospital stay with the hypothesis that high-flow oxygen therapy reduces length of stay. There were 9 secondary outcomes, including length of oxygen therapy and admission to the intensive care unit. Children were analyzed according to their randomization group.

RESULTS

Of the 1567 children who were randomized, 1517 (97%) were included in the primary analysis (median age, 1.9 years [IQR, 1.4-3.0 years]; 732 [46.7%] were female) and all children completed the trial. The length of hospital stay was significantly longer in the high-flow oxygen group with a median of 1.77 days (IQR, 1.03-2.80 days) vs 1.50 days (IQR, 0.85-2.44 days) in the standard oxygen group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.75-0.92]; P < .001). Of the 9 prespecified secondary outcomes, 4 showed no significant difference. The median length of oxygen therapy was 1.07 days (IQR, 0.50-2.06 days) in the high-flow oxygen group vs 0.75 days (IQR, 0.35-1.61 days) in the standard oxygen therapy group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.70-0.86]). In the high-flow oxygen group, there were 94 admissions (12.5%) to the intensive care unit compared with 53 admissions (6.9%) in the standard oxygen group (adjusted odds ratio, 1.93 [95% CI, 1.35-2.75]). There was only 1 death and it occurred in the high-flow oxygen group.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Nasal high-flow oxygen used as the initial primary therapy in children aged 1 to 4 years with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure did not significantly reduce the length of hospital stay compared with standard oxygen therapy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12618000210279.

Factors influencing health professionals' use of high-flow nasal cannula therapy for infants with bronchiolitis - A qualitative study

Aim

To explore the factors influencing the use of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy for infants with bronchiolitis.

Design

Qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews.

Methods

The semi-structured interviews (face-to-face or virtual) were conducted between September 2020 and February 2021. Deductive content analysis was used to map key influencing factors for use of HFNC therapy to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).

Results

Nineteen interviews were undertaken before reaching thematic saturation (7 nurses, 12 doctors) in emergency departments and paediatric wards from four purposively selected hospitals in Australia and New Zealand. Influencing factors were mapped to eight domains in the TDF with 21 themes identified. Main findings included: (1) Health professionals' expectations of HFNC therapy on patient deterioration, work of breathing and oxygenation; (2) Staff emotions relating to concern and anxiety about deterioration and "need to do something"; (3) Social influences from other health professionals and parents and (4) Environmental factors relating to logistics of care and patient transfer considerations. These factors, combined with the ready availability of HFNC equipment and health professionals having the required skills to administer the therapy, contributed to its initiation.

Conclusion

Individual/personal and contextual/environmental factors contribute to the use of HFNC therapy for infants with bronchiolitis. It is evident these influences contribute substantially to increased use, despite evidence-based guidelines recommending a more nuanced approach to this therapy. These findings will inform a targeted implementation intervention to promote evidence-based use of HFNC therapy in infants with bronchiolitis.

Agreement of Clinician‐Administered and Modified Parent‐Administered House‐Brackmann Scales in Children with Bell's Palsy

Objective

Currently there is no parent administered scale for facial nerve function in children. We set out to assess the agreement between a newly developed parent-administered modified version of the House-Brackmann (HB) scale and the standard clinician-administered HB scale in children with Bell's palsy.

Study Design

Secondary analysis of a triple-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of corticosteroids to treat idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) in children (6 months to <18 years).

Setting

Multicenter study at pediatric hospitals with recruitment in emergency departments.

Methods

Children were recruited within 72 hours of symptom onset and assessed using the clinician-administered and the parent-administered modified HB scales at baseline, and at 1, 3, and 6 months until recovered. Agreement between the 2 scales was assessed using intraclass coefficient (ICC) and a Bland-Altman plot.

Results

Data were available for 174 of the 187 children randomized from at least 1 study time point. The mean ICC between clinician and parent HB scores across all time points was 0.88 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.86, 0.90). The ICC for the data collected at baseline was 0.53 (95% CI: 0.43, 0.64), at 1 month was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.91), at 3 months was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.87) and at 6 months was 0.73 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.89). A Bland-Altman plot indicated a mean difference between the 2 scores (clinician-reported minus parent-reported) of only -0.07 (95% limits of agreement -1.37 to 1.23).

Conclusion

There was good agreement between the modified parent-administered and the clinician-administered HB scales.

Prevalence of high flow nasal cannula therapy use for management of infants with bronchiolitis in Australia and New Zealand

AIM

To determine the prevalence of high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy in infants presenting to hospital in Australia and New Zealand with bronchiolitis over four bronchiolitis seasons. Secondary aims were to determine temporal trends in HFNC use, and associations between HFNC, hospital length of stay (LOS) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

METHODS

A planned sub-study of a multi-centre international cluster randomised controlled trial investigating knowledge translation strategies for a bi-national bronchiolitis guideline. Demographics, management and outcomes data were collected retrospectively for infants presenting with bronchiolitis to 26 hospitals between 1 May 2014 and 30 November 2017. Prevalence data are presented as absolute frequencies (95% confidence interval (CI)) with differences between groups for continuous and categorical variables analysed using linear and logistic regression, respectively.

RESULTS

11 715 infants were included with 3392 (29.0%, 95% CI (28.1-29.8%)) receiving oxygen therapy; of whom 1817 (53.6%, 95% CI (51.9-55.3%)) received HFNC. Use of oxygen therapy did not change over the four bronchiolitis seasons (P = 0.12), while the proportion receiving HFNC increased (2014, 336/2587 (43.2%); 2017, 609/3720 (57.8%); P ≤ 0.001). Infants who received HFNC therapy were not substantially different to infants who received oxygen therapy without HFNC. HFNC use was associated with increases in both hospital LOS (P < 0.001) and ICU admissions (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Use of HFNC therapy for infants with bronchiolitis increased over 4 years. Of those who received oxygen therapy, the majority received HFNC therapy without improvement in hospital LOS or ICU admissions. Strategies to guide appropriate HFNC use in infants with bronchiolitis are required.

Efficacy of Prednisolone for Bell Palsy in Children: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Corticosteroids are used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell palsy) in children, but their effectiveness is uncertain. We set out to determine whether prednisolone improves the proportion of children with Bell palsy with complete recovery at 1 month.

METHODS

We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of prednisolone in children presenting to emergency departments with Bell palsy. Patients aged 6 months to younger than 18 years were recruited within 72 hours after the symptom onset and were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with oral prednisolone (approximately 1 mg/kg) or placebo. The primary outcome was complete recovery of facial function at 1 month rated on the House-Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included facial function, adverse events, and pain up to 6 months. Target recruitment was n = 540 (270 per group).

RESULTS

Between October 13, 2015, and August 23, 2020, 187 children were randomized (94 to prednisolone and 93 to placebo) and included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 1 month, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 49% (n = 43/87) in the prednisolone group compared with 57% (n = 50/87) in the placebo group (risk difference -8.1%, 95% CI -22.8 to 6.7; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.7, 95% CI 0.4 to 1.3). At 3 months, these proportions were 90% (n = 71/79) for the prednisolone group vs 85% (n = 72/85) for the placebo group (risk difference 5.2%, 95% CI -5.0 to 15.3; aOR 1.2, 95% CI 0.4 to 3.0) and, at 6 months, 99% (n = 77/78) and 93% (n = 76/82), respectively (risk difference 6.0%, 95% CI -0.1 to 12.2; aOR 3.0, 95% CI 0.5 to 17.7). There were no serious adverse events and little evidence for group differences in secondary outcomes.

DISCUSSION

In children with Bell palsy, the vast majority recover without treatment. This study, although underpowered, does not provide evidence that early treatment with prednisolone improves complete recovery.

TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12615000563561, registered June 1, 2015. anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=368505&isReview=true.

CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE

This study provides Class I evidence that for children with Bell palsy, prednisolone does not significantly change recovery of complete facial function at 1 month. However, this study lacked the precision to exclude an important harm or benefit from prednisolone.

Urinary tract infections in children: building a causal model-based decision support tool for diagnosis with domain knowledge and prospective data

BACKGROUND

Diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children in the emergency department (ED) is challenging due to the variable clinical presentations and difficulties in obtaining a urine sample free from contamination. Clinicians need to weigh a range of observations to make timely diagnostic and management decisions, a difficult task to achieve without support due to the complex interactions among relevant factors. Directed acyclic graphs (DAG) and causal Bayesian networks (BN) offer a way to explicitly outline the underlying disease, contamination and diagnostic processes, and to further make quantitative inference on the event of interest thus serving as a tool for decision support.

METHODS

We prospectively collected data on children present to ED with suspected UTIs. Through knowledge elicitation workshops and one-on-one meetings, a DAG was co-developed with clinical domain experts (the Expert DAG) to describe the causal relationships among variables relevant to paediatric UTIs. The Expert DAG was combined with prospective data and further domain knowledge to inform the development of an application-oriented BN (the Applied BN), designed to support the diagnosis of UTI. We assessed the performance of the Applied BN using quantitative and qualitative methods.

RESULTS

We summarised patient background, clinical and laboratory characteristics of 431 episodes of suspected UTIs enrolled from May 2019 to November 2020. The Expert DAG was presented with a narrative description, elucidating how infection, specimen contamination and management pathways causally interact to form the complex picture of paediatric UTIs. Parameterised using prospective data and expert-elicited parameters, the Applied BN achieved an excellent and stable performance in predicting Escherichia coli culture results, with a mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.86 and a mean log loss of 0.48 based on 10-fold cross-validation. The BN predictions were reviewed via a validation workshop, and we illustrate how they can be presented for decision support using three hypothetical clinical scenarios.

CONCLUSION

Causal BNs created from both expert knowledge and data can integrate case-specific information to provide individual decision support during the diagnosis of paediatric UTIs in ED. The model aids the interpretation of culture results and the diagnosis of UTIs, promising the prospect of improved patient care and judicious use of antibiotics.

Bronchiolitis

Viral bronchiolitis is the most common cause of admission to hospital for infants in high-income countries. Respiratory syncytial virus accounts for 60-80% of bronchiolitis presentations. Bronchiolitis is diagnosed clinically without the need for viral testing. Management recommendations, based predominantly on high-quality evidence, advise clinicians to support hydration and oxygenation only. Evidence suggests no benefit with use of glucocorticoids or bronchodilators, with further evidence required to support use of hypertonic saline in bronchiolitis. Evidence is scarce in the intensive care unit. Evidence suggests use of high-flow therapy in bronchiolitis is limited to rescue therapy after failure of standard subnasal oxygen only in infants who are hypoxic and does not decrease rates of intensive care unit admission or intubation. Despite systematic reviews and international clinical practice guidelines promoting supportive rather than interventional therapy, universal de-implementation of interventional care in bronchiolitis has not occurred and remains a major challenge.

Post-COVID-19 Conditions Among Children 90 Days After SARS-CoV-2 Infection

IMPORTANCE

Little is known about the risk factors for, and the risk of, developing post-COVID-19 conditions (PCCs) among children.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the proportion of SARS-CoV-2-positive children with PCCs 90 days after a positive test result, to compare this proportion with SARS-CoV-2-negative children, and to assess factors associated with PCCs.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This prospective cohort study, conducted in 36 emergency departments (EDs) in 8 countries between March 7, 2020, and January 20, 2021, included 1884 SARS-CoV-2-positive children who completed 90-day follow-up; 1686 of these children were frequency matched by hospitalization status, country, and recruitment date with 1701 SARS-CoV-2-negative controls.

EXPOSURE

SARS-CoV-2 detected via nucleic acid testing.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Post-COVID-19 conditions, defined as any persistent, new, or recurrent health problems reported in the 90-day follow-up survey.

RESULTS

Of 8642 enrolled children, 2368 (27.4%) were SARS-CoV-2 positive, among whom 2365 (99.9%) had index ED visit disposition data available; among the 1884 children (79.7%) who completed follow-up, the median age was 3 years (IQR, 0-10 years) and 994 (52.8%) were boys. A total of 110 SARS-CoV-2-positive children (5.8%; 95% CI, 4.8%-7.0%) reported PCCs, including 44 of 447 children (9.8%; 95% CI, 7.4%-13.0%) hospitalized during the acute illness and 66 of 1437 children (4.6%; 95% CI, 3.6%-5.8%) not hospitalized during the acute illness (difference, 5.3%; 95% CI, 2.5%-8.5%). Among SARS-CoV-2-positive children, the most common symptom was fatigue or weakness (21 [1.1%]). Characteristics associated with reporting at least 1 PCC at 90 days included being hospitalized 48 hours or more compared with no hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.67 [95% CI, 1.63-4.38]); having 4 or more symptoms reported at the index ED visit compared with 1 to 3 symptoms (4-6 symptoms: aOR, 2.35 [95% CI, 1.28-4.31]; ≥7 symptoms: aOR, 4.59 [95% CI, 2.50-8.44]); and being 14 years of age or older compared with younger than 1 year (aOR, 2.67 [95% CI, 1.43-4.99]). SARS-CoV-2-positive children were more likely to report PCCs at 90 days compared with those who tested negative, both among those who were not hospitalized (55 of 1295 [4.2%; 95% CI, 3.2%-5.5%] vs 35 of 1321 [2.7%; 95% CI, 1.9%-3.7%]; difference, 1.6% [95% CI, 0.2%-3.0%]) and those who were hospitalized (40 of 391 [10.2%; 95% CI, 7.4%-13.7%] vs 19 of 380 [5.0%; 95% CI, 3.0%-7.7%]; difference, 5.2% [95% CI, 1.5%-9.1%]). In addition, SARS-CoV-2 positivity was associated with reporting PCCs 90 days after the index ED visit (aOR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.14-2.35]), specifically systemic health problems (eg, fatigue, weakness, fever; aOR, 2.44 [95% CI, 1.19-5.00]).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cohort study, SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with reporting PCCs at 90 days in children. Guidance and follow-up are particularly necessary for hospitalized children who have numerous acute symptoms and are older.

Status Epilepticus Australasian Registry for Children: A pilot prospective, observational, cohort study of paediatric status epilepticus

OBJECTIVE

Paediatric status epilepticus (SE) has potential for long-term sequelae. Existing data demonstrate delays to aspects of care. The objective of the present study was to examine the feasibility of collecting data on children with paediatric SE and describe current management strategies in pre-hospital and in-hospital settings.

METHODS

A pilot, prospective, observational cohort study of children 4 weeks to 16 years of age with SE, in four EDs in Australia. Clinical details including medications administered, duration of seizure and short-term outcomes were collected. Follow up occurred by telephone at 1 month.

RESULTS

We enrolled 167 children with SE. Mean age was 5.4 years (standard deviation [SD] 4.1), and 81 (49%) male. Median seizure duration was 10 min (interquartile range 7-30). Midazolam was the first medication administered in 87/100 (87%) instances, mean dose of 0.21 mg/kg (SD 0.13). The dose of midazolam was adequate in 30 (35%), high (>0.2 mg/kg) in 44 (51%) and low (<0.1 mg/kg) in 13 (15%). For second-line agents, levetiracetam was administered on 33/55 (60%) occasions, whereas phenytoin and phenobarbitone were administered on 11/55 (20%) occasions each. Mean dose of levetiracetam was 26.4 mg/kg (SD 13.5). One hundred and four (62%) patients were admitted to hospital, with 13 (8%) admitted to ICU and seven (4%) intubated.

CONCLUSION

In children presenting with SE in Australia medical management differed from previous reports, with midazolam as the preferred benzodiazepine, and levetiracetam replacing phenytoin as the preferred second-line agent. This pilot study indicates the feasibility of a paediatric SE registry and its utility to understand and optimise practice.

Prevalence and predictors of poor outcome in children with febrile neutropaenia presenting to the emergency department

OBJECTIVE

Children with acquired neutropaenia due to cancer chemotherapy are at high risk of severe infection. The present study aims to describe the prevalence and predictors of poor outcomes in children with febrile neutropaenia (FN).

METHODS

This is a multicentre, prospective observational study in tertiary Australian EDs. Cancer patients with FN were included. Fever was defined as a single temperature ≥38°C, and neutropaenia was defined as an absolute neutrophil count <1000/mm³ . The primary outcome was the ICU admission for organ support therapy (inotropic support, mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal life support). Secondary outcomes were: ICU admission, ICU length of stay (LOS) ≥3 days, proven or probable bacterial infection, hospital LOS ≥7 days and 28-day mortality. Initial vital signs, biomarkers (including lactate) and clinical sepsis scores, including Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and quick Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2 were evaluated as predictors of poor outcomes.

RESULTS

Between December 2016 and January 2018, 2124 episodes of fever in children with cancer were screened, 547 episodes in 334 children met inclusion criteria. Four episodes resulted in ICU admission for organ support therapy, nine episodes required ICU admission, ICU LOS was ≥3 days in four, hospital LOS was ≥7 days in 153 and two patients died within 28 days. Vital signs, blood tests and clinical sepsis scores, including Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and quick Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2, performed poorly as predictors of these outcomes (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve <0.6).

CONCLUSIONS

Very few patients with FN required ICU-level care. Vital signs, biomarkers and clinical sepsis scores for the prediction of poor outcomes are of limited utility in children with FN.

Return visits to the paediatric emergency department

OBJECTIVE

To determine the rate of unplanned return visits (uRVs) within 48 h to a paediatric ED over a 12-month period and describe the factors associated with these uRV.

METHODS

Retrospective review of electronic data regarding the initial and follow-up visit at a tertiary paediatric hospital ED in Western Australia. The primary outcome was the number of patients who presented for uRV within 48 h of their initial ED visit.

RESULTS

Between August 2018 and July 2019, 2322 patients returned to the ED for a uRV comprising 3.4% of 68 352 ED presentations with more than 53% returning with infectious causes. Triage category 3 patients were most likely to represent (OR 1.11, P = 0.029) with 3-month to 1-year old (OR 1.37, P < 0.00001) and 1-5-year old (OR 1.32, P < 0.00001) the commonest age groups. There was seasonal variation in uRVs demonstrating a greater number in the winter months. The percentage of uRVs to overall ED presentations was greater in the summer months (3.8-4.1%). There was a significant increase in uRVs occurring up to 2 weeks after the changeovers in middle-grade ED doctors only.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study has demonstrated associations between uRV and initial-visit triage category 3, age between 3 months and 5 years, and presentations because of infectious illness. Middle-grade doctor changeover was also associated with an increase in uRVs.

Treatment patterns and frequency of key outcomes in acute severe asthma in children: a Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) multicentre cohort study

RATIONALE

Severe acute paediatric asthma may require treatment escalation beyond systemic corticosteroids, inhaled bronchodilators and low-flow oxygen. Current large asthma datasets report parenteral therapy only.

OBJECTIVES

To identify the use and type of escalation of treatment in children presenting to hospital with acute severe asthma.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study of children with an emergency department diagnosis of asthma or wheeze at 18 Australian and New Zealand hospitals. The main outcomes were use and type of escalation treatment (defined as any of intensive care unit admission, nebulised magnesium, respiratory support or parenteral bronchodilator treatment) and hospital length of stay (LOS).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Of 14 029 children (median age 3 (IQR 1-3) years; 62.9% male), 1020 (7.3%, 95% CI 6.9% to 7.7%) had treatment escalation. Children with treatment escalation had a longer LOS (44.2 hours, IQR 27.3-63.2 hours) than children without escalation 6.7 hours, IQR 3.5-16.3 hours; p<0.001). The most common treatment escalations were respiratory support alone (400; 2.9%, 95% CI 2.6% to 3.1%), parenteral bronchodilator treatment alone (380; 2.7%, 95% CI 2.5% to 3.0%) and both respiratory support and parenteral bronchodilator treatment (209; 1.5%, 95% CI 1.3% to 1.7%). Respiratory support was predominantly nasal high-flow therapy (99.0%). The most common intravenous medication regimens were: magnesium alone (50.4%), magnesium and aminophylline (24.6%) and magnesium and salbutamol (10.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, 7.3% children with acute severe asthma received some form of escalated treatment, with 4.2% receiving parenteral bronchodilators and 4.3% respiratory support. There is wide variation treatment escalation.

Examining the interseasonal resurgence of respiratory syncytial virus in Western Australia

BACKGROUND

Following a relative absence in winter 2020, a large resurgence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) detections occurred during the 2020/2021 summer in Western Australia. This seasonal shift was linked to SARS-CoV-2 public health measures. We examine the epidemiology and RSV testing of respiratory-coded admissions, and compare clinical phenotype of RSV-positive admissions between 2019 and 2020.

METHOD

At a single tertiary paediatric centre, International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition Australian Modification-coded respiratory admissions longer than 12 hours were combined with laboratory data from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020. Data were grouped into bronchiolitis, other acute lower respiratory infection (OALRI) and wheeze, to assess RSV testing practices. For RSV-positive admissions, demographics and clinical features were compared between 2019 and 2020.

RESULTS

RSV-positive admissions peaked in early summer 2020, following an absent winter season. Testing was higher in 2020: bronchiolitis, 94.8% vs 89.2% (p=0.01); OALRI, 88.6% vs 82.6% (p=0.02); and wheeze, 62.8% vs 25.5% (p<0.001). The 2020 peak month, December, contributed almost 75% of RSV-positive admissions, 2.5 times the 2019 peak. The median age in 2020 was twice that observed in 2019 (16.4 vs 8.1 months, p<0.001). The proportion of RSV-positive OALRI admissions was greater in 2020 (32.6% vs 24.9%, p=0.01). There were no clinically meaningful differences in length of stay or disease severity.

INTERPRETATION

The 2020 RSV season was in summer, with a larger than expected peak. There was an increase in RSV-positive non-bronchiolitis admissions, consistent with infection in older RSV-naïve children. This resurgence raises concern for regions experiencing longer and more stringent SARS-CoV-2 public health measures.

Can targeted interventions change the factors influencing variation in management of infants with bronchiolitis? A survey of Australian and New Zealand clinicians: A paediatric research in emergency departments international collaborative (PREDICT) study

AIM

This study aimed to determine whether targeted interventions, proven to be effective at improving evidence-based bronchiolitis management, changed factors previously found to influence variation in bronchiolitis management.

METHODS

This survey assessed change in factors influencing clinicians' (nurses and doctors) bronchiolitis management at baseline and post-intervention in a cluster randomised controlled trial of targeted, theory-informed interventions aiming to de-implement non-evidence-based bronchiolitis management (no use of chest X-ray, salbutamol, antibiotics, glucocorticoids and adrenaline). Survey questions addressed previously identified factors influencing bronchiolitis management from six Theoretical Domains Framework domains (knowledge; skills; beliefs about consequences; social/professional role and identity; environmental context and resources; social influences). Data analysis was descriptive.

RESULTS

A total of 1958 surveys (baseline = 996; post-intervention = 962) were completed by clinicians from the emergency department and paediatric inpatient units from 26 hospitals (intervention = 13; control = 13). Targeted bronchiolitis interventions significantly increased knowledge of the Australasian Bronchiolitis Guideline (intervention clinicians = 74%, control = 39%, difference = 34.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 25.6-43.8%), improved skills in diagnosing (intervention doctors = 89%, control = 76%, difference = 12.6%, 95% CI = 6.2-19%) and managing bronchiolitis (intervention doctors = 87%, control = 76%, difference = 9.9%, 95% CI = 3.7-16.1%), positively influenced both beliefs about consequences regarding salbutamol use (intervention clinicians = 49%, control = 29%, difference = 20.3%, 95% CI = 13.2-27.4%) and nurses questioning non-evidence-based bronchiolitis management (chest X-ray: intervention = 71%, control = 51%, difference = 20.8%, 95% CI = 11.4-30.2%; glucocorticoids: intervention = 64%, control = 40%, difference = 21.9%, 95% CI = 10.4-33.5%) (social/professional role and identity). A 14% improvement in evidence-based bronchiolitis management favouring intervention hospitals was demonstrated in the cluster randomised controlled trial.

CONCLUSION

Targeted interventions positively changed factors influencing bronchiolitis management resulting in improved evidence-based bronchiolitis care. This study has important implications for improving bronchiolitis management and future development of interventions to de-implement low-value care.

Efficacy of Digital Health Tools for a Pediatric Patient Registry: Semistructured Interviews and Interface Usability Testing With Parents and Clinicians

Background

Acute respiratory infection (ARI) in childhood is common, but more knowledge on the burden and natural history of ARI in the community is required. A better understanding of ARI risk factors, treatment, and outcomes will help support parents to manage their sick child at home. Digital health tools are becoming more widely adopted in clinical care and research and may assist in understanding and managing common pediatric diseases, including ARI, in hospitals and in the community. We integrated 2 digital tools—a web-based discharge communication system and the REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) platform—into the Pragmatic Adaptive Trial for Acute Respiratory Infection in Children to enhance parent and physician engagement around ARI discharge communication and our patient registry.

Objective

The objective of this study is to determine the efficacy and usability of digital tools integrated into a pediatric patient registry for ARI.

Methods

Semistructured interviews and software interface usability testing were conducted with 11 parents and 8 emergency department physicians working at a tertiary pediatric hospital and research center in Perth, Western Australia, in 2019. Questions focused on experiences of discharge communication and clinical trial engagement. Responses were analyzed using the qualitative Framework Method. Participants were directly observed using digital interfaces as they attempted predetermined tasks that were then classified as success, failure, software failure, or not observed. Participants rated the interfaces using the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Results

Most parents (9/11, 82%) indicated that they usually received verbal discharge advice, with some (5/11, 45%) recalling receiving preprinted resources from their physician. Most (8/11, 73%) would also like to receive discharge advice electronically. Most of the physicians (7/8, 88%) described their usual practice as verbal discharge instructions, with some (3/8, 38%) reporting time pressures associated with providing discharge instructions. The digital technology option was preferred for engaging in research by most parents (8/11, 73%). For the discharge communication digital tool, parents gave a mean SUS score of 94/100 (SD 4.3; A grade) for the mobile interface and physicians gave a mean usability score of 93/100 (SD 4.7; A grade) for the desktop interface. For the research data management tool (REDCap), parents gave a mean usability score of 78/100 (SD 11.0; C grade) for the mobile interface.

Conclusions

Semistructured interviews allowed us to better understand parent and physician experiences of discharge communication and clinical research engagement. Software interface usability testing methods and use of the SUS helped us gauge the efficacy of our digital tools with both parent and physician users. This study demonstrates the feasibility of combining qualitative research methods with software industry interface usability testing methods to help determine the efficacy of digital tools in a pediatric clinical research setting.

Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2-Positive Youths Tested in Emergency Departments: The Global PERN-COVID-19 Study

IMPORTANCE

Severe outcomes among youths with SARS-CoV-2 infections are poorly characterized.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the proportion of children with severe outcomes within 14 days of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 in an emergency department (ED).

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This prospective cohort study with 14-day follow-up enrolled participants between March 2020 and June 2021. Participants were youths aged younger than 18 years who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection at one of 41 EDs across 10 countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Singapore, Spain, and the United States. Statistical analysis was performed from September to October 2021.

EXPOSURES

Acute SARS-CoV-2 infection was determined by nucleic acid (eg, polymerase chain reaction) testing.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Severe outcomes, a composite measure defined as intensive interventions during hospitalization (eg, inotropic support, positive pressure ventilation), diagnoses indicating severe organ impairment, or death.

RESULTS

Among 3222 enrolled youths who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, 3221 (>99.9%) had index visit outcome data available, 2007 (62.3%) were from the United States, 1694 (52.6%) were male, and 484 (15.0%) had a self-reported chronic illness; the median (IQR) age was 3 (0-10) years. After 14 days of follow-up, 735 children (22.8% [95% CI, 21.4%-24.3%]) were hospitalized, 107 (3.3% [95% CI, 2.7%-4.0%]) had severe outcomes, and 4 children (0.12% [95% CI, 0.03%-0.32%]) died. Characteristics associated with severe outcomes included being aged 5 to 18 years (age 5 to <10 years vs <1 year: odds ratio [OR], 1.60 [95% CI, 1.09-2.34]; age 10 to <18 years vs <1 year: OR, 2.39 [95% CI 1.38-4.14]), having a self-reported chronic illness (OR, 2.34 [95% CI, 1.59-3.44]), prior episode of pneumonia (OR, 3.15 [95% CI, 1.83-5.42]), symptoms starting 4 to 7 days prior to seeking ED care (vs starting 0-3 days before seeking care: OR, 2.22 [95% CI, 1.29-3.82]), and country (eg, Canada vs US: OR, 0.11 [95% CI, 0.05-0.23]; Costa Rica vs US: OR, 1.76 [95% CI, 1.05-2.96]; Spain vs US: OR, 0.51 [95% CI, 0.27-0.98]). Among a subgroup of 2510 participants discharged home from the ED after initial testing and who had complete follow-up, 50 (2.0%; 95% CI, 1.5%-2.6%) were eventually hospitalized and 12 (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.3%-0.8%) had severe outcomes. Compared with hospitalized SARS-CoV-2-negative youths, the risk of severe outcomes was higher among hospitalized SARS-CoV-2-positive youths (risk difference, 3.9%; 95% CI, 1.1%-6.9%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, approximately 3% of SARS-CoV-2-positive youths tested in EDs experienced severe outcomes within 2 weeks of their ED visit. Among children discharged home from the ED, the risk was much lower. Risk factors such as age, underlying chronic illness, and symptom duration may be useful to consider when making clinical care decisions.

Re-examining Hepatitis B Postexposure Prophylaxis Following Pediatric Community-acquired Needle-stick Injury in an Era of a National Immunization Registry

BACKGROUND

Long-term hepatitis B immunity has been demonstrated following the completion of the primary vaccination series in childhood. Some guidelines recommend a hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) directed approach following community-acquired needle-stick injury (CANSI) to inform hepatitis B postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) management. We assessed the utility of anti-HBs testing post-CANSI, as well as the costing of, and adherence to PEP at a pediatric hospital.

METHODS

Children presenting to an Australian tertiary pediatric hospital post-CANSI (2014-2019) were identified retrospectively using medical and laboratory records. Immunization status was obtained from the Australian Immunisation Registry.

RESULTS

Fifty-six children with CANSI were identified. Of those with immunization records, all had completed hepatitis B vaccinations (n = 52). At presentation, 44% (n = 23) had anti-HBs <10 IU/L, which was more likely in older (≥6 years, 68%) versus younger children (OR 4.59, P < 0.02). HBIG and hepatitis B vaccine adherence was 65% (15/23) and 78% (18/23), respectively. All children (n = 14) with anti-HBs ≥4 weeks postvaccination ±HBIG, demonstrated an anamnestic response. No hepatitis B infections were detected. Using completed immunizations versus anti-HBs levels as a marker of immunity to direct PEP resulted in a projected cost savings of AUD$ 4234.

CONCLUSION

Anti-HBs levels <10 IU/L, despite previous vaccinations, were frequent in children post-CANSI, with many demonstrating an anamnestic response. Adherence to postexposure HBIG and hepatitis B vaccine was suboptimal using an anti-HBs directed approach. These data support re-evaluating PEP in an era of the national immunization registry; completion of hepatitis B vaccinations as a marker of immunity provides a practical approach, ensuring optimized care for pediatric CANSI.

Pediatric Abdominal Pain in Children Presenting to the Emergency Department

BACKGROUND

Undifferentiated abdominal pain is a common pediatric presentation to the emergency department (ED).

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of clinically significant abdominal pathology (CSAP) including appendicitis, patterns of imaging and pathology tests, and management and outcomes of children with abdominal pain in ED.

METHODS

A prospective multicenter observational cohort pilot study of children under the age of 16 years presenting to 4 Australian EDs with abdominal pain was performed for a 1-month period at each site. The primary outcome was to describe the prevalence of CSAP and appendicitis. Age, sex, length of stay, surgery or interventional procedure, investigations, and analgesia use were recorded.

RESULTS

There were 555 presentations with abdominal pain during the study period with a median age of 9 years (interquartile range, 6-12 years). Eighty-two patients (14.8%; 95% confidence interval, 11.8-17.7) had CSAP, of which 41 (7.4%, 5.2-9.6) had appendicitis. Three hundred forty-eight (62.7%, 58.7-66.7) were discharged directly from ED, and 207 (37.3%, 33.2-41.3) were admitted. Two hundred fifty-five (45.9%, 41.8-50.1) had pathology tests, and 173 (31.2%, 27.3-35.1) had imaging tests in ED. Of those contacted for telephone follow-up, 100 (50.5%, 43.5-57.5) of 198 reported ongoing pain after discharge, and 13.1% (8.4-17.8) had missed over a week of school due to abdominal pain.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of CSAP and appendicitis in our study was 14.8% (11.8-17.7) and 7.4% (5.2-9.6), respectively. Fewer than half of patients received blood tests, and a third received imaging during their ED attendance. The presentation of abdominal pain conveys a significant health burden on families with time off school and ongoing symptoms of pain.

Process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial to improve bronchiolitis management - a PREDICT mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Bronchiolitis is the most common reason for hospitalisation in infants. All international bronchiolitis guidelines recommend supportive care, yet considerable variation in practice continues with infants receiving non-evidence based therapies. We developed six targeted, theory-informed interventions; clinical leads, stakeholder meeting, train-the-trainer, education delivery, other educational materials, and audit and feedback. A cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) found the interventions to be effective in reducing use of five non-evidence based therapies in infants with bronchiolitis. This process evaluation paper aims to determine whether the interventions were implemented as planned (fidelity), explore end-users' perceptions of the interventions and evaluate cRCT outcome data with intervention fidelity data.

METHODS

A pre-specified mixed-methods process evaluation was conducted alongside the cRCT, guided by frameworks for process evaluation of cRCTs and complex interventions. Quantitative data on the fidelity, dose and reach of interventions were collected from the 13 intervention hospitals during the study and analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data identifying perception and acceptability of interventions were collected from 42 intervention hospital clinical leads on study completion and analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The cRCT found targeted, theory-informed interventions improved bronchiolitis management by 14.1%. The process evaluation data found variability in how the intervention was delivered at the cluster and individual level. Total fidelity scores ranged from 55 to 98% across intervention hospitals (mean = 78%; SD = 13%). Fidelity scores were highest for use of clinical leads (mean = 98%; SD = 7%), and lowest for use of other educational materials (mean = 65%; SD = 19%) and audit and feedback (mean = 65%; SD = 20%). Clinical leads reflected positively about the interventions, with time constraints being the greatest barrier to their use.

CONCLUSION

Our targeted, theory-informed interventions were delivered with moderate fidelity, and were well received by clinical leads. Despite clinical leads experiencing challenges of time constraints, the level of fidelity had a positive effect on successfully de-implementing non-evidence-based care in infants with bronchiolitis. These findings will inform widespread rollout of our bronchiolitis interventions, and guide future practice change in acute care settings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12616001567415 .

PRagMatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced vs nOrmaL Saline FlUid in Sepsis: study protocol for the PRoMPT BOLUS randomized interventional trial

Background/aims

Despite evidence that preferential use of balanced/buffered fluids may improve outcomes compared with chloride-rich 0.9% saline, saline remains the most commonly used fluid for children with septic shock. We aim to determine if resuscitation with balanced/buffered fluids as part of usual care will improve outcomes, in part through reduced kidney injury and without an increase in adverse effects, compared to 0.9% saline for children with septic shock.

Methods

The Pragmatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced versus Normal Saline Fluid in Sepsis (PRoMPT BOLUS) study is an international, open-label pragmatic interventional trial being conducted at > 40 sites in the USA, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand starting on August 25, 2020, and continuing for 5 years. Children > 6 months to < 18 years treated for suspected septic shock with abnormal perfusion in an emergency department will be randomized to receive either balanced/buffered crystalloids (intervention) or 0.9% saline (control) for initial resuscitation and maintenance fluids for up to 48 h. Eligible patients are enrolled and randomized using serially numbered, opaque envelopes concurrent with clinical care. Given the life-threatening nature of septic shock and narrow therapeutic window to start fluid resuscitation, patients may be enrolled under “exception from informed consent” in the USA or “deferred consent” in Canada and Australia/New Zealand. Other than fluid type, all decisions about timing, volume, and rate of fluid administration remain at the discretion of the treating clinicians. For pragmatic reasons, clinicians will not be blinded to study fluid type. Anticipated enrollment is 8800 patients. The primary outcome will be major adverse kidney events within 30 days (MAKE30), a composite of death, renal replacement therapy, and persistent kidney dysfunction. Additional effectiveness, safety, and biologic outcomes will also be analyzed.

Discussion

PRoMPT BOLUS will provide high-quality evidence for the comparative effectiveness of buffered/balanced crystalloids versus 0.9% saline for the initial fluid management of children with suspected septic shock in emergency settings.

Trial registration

PRoMPT BOLUS was first registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04102371) on September 25, 2019. Enrollment started on August 25, 2020.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05717-4.

PECARN algorithms for minor head trauma: Risk stratification estimates from a prospective PREDICT cohort study

BACKGROUND

The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) head trauma clinical decision rules informed the development of algorithms that risk stratify the management of children based on their risk of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI). We aimed to determine the rate of ciTBI for each PECARN algorithm risk group in an external cohort of patients and that of ciTBI associated with different combinations of high- or intermediate-risk predictors.

METHODS

This study was a secondary analysis of a large multicenter prospective data set, including patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 14 or 15 conducted in Australia and New Zealand. We calculated ciTBI rates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each PECARN risk category and combinations of related predictor variables.

RESULTS

Of the 15,163 included children, 4,011 (25.5%) were aged <2 years. The frequency of ciTBI was 8.5% (95% CI = 6.0%-11.6%), 0.2% (95% CI = 0.0%-0.6%), and 0.0% (95% CI = 0.0%-0.2%) in the high-, intermediate-, and very-low-risk groups, respectively, for children <2 years and 5.7% (95% CI = 4.4%-7.2%), 0.7% (95% CI = 0.5%-1.0%), and 0.0% (95% CI = 0.0%-0.1%) in older children. The isolated high-risk predictor with the highest risk of ciTBI was "signs of palpable skull fracture" for younger children (11.4%, 95% CI = 5.3%-20.5%) and "signs of basilar skull fracture" in children ≥2 years (11.1%, 95% CI = 3.7%-24.1%). For older children in the intermediate-risk category, the presence of all four predictors had the highest risk of ciTBI (25.0%, 95% CI = 0.6%-80.6%) followed by the combination of "severe mechanism of injury" and "severe headache" (7.7%, 95% CI = 0.2%-36.0%). The very few children <2 years at intermediate risk with ciTBI precluded further analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk estimates of ciTBI for each of the PECARN algorithms risk group were consistent with the original PECARN study. The risk estimates of ciTBI within the high- and intermediate-risk predictors will help further refine clinical judgment and decision making on neuroimaging.

Characteristics of concussion based on patient age and sex: a multicenter prospective observational study

OBJECTIVE

Children with concussion frequently present to emergency departments (EDs). There is limited understanding of the differences in signs, symptoms, and epidemiology of concussion based on patient age. Here, the authors set out to assess the association between age and acute concussion presentations.

METHODS

The authors conducted a multicenter prospective observational study of head injuries at 10 EDs in Australia and New Zealand. They identified children aged 5 to < 18 years, presenting with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13-15, presenting < 24 hours postinjury, with no abnormalities on CT if performed, and one or more signs or symptoms of concussion. They extracted demographic, injury-related, and signs and symptoms information and stratified it by age group (5-8, 9-12, 13 to < 18 years).

RESULTS

Of 8857 children aged 5 to < 18 years, 4709 patients met the defined concussion criteria (5-8 years, n = 1546; 9-12 years, n = 1617; 13 to < 18 years, n = 1546). The mean age of the cohort was 10.9 years, and approximately 70% of the patients were male. Sport-related concussion accounted for 43.7% of concussions overall, increasing from 19.1% to 48.9% to 63.0% in the 5-8, 9-12, and 13 to < 18 years age groups. The most common acute symptoms postinjury were headache (64.6%), disorientation (36.2%), amnesia (30.0%), and vomiting (27.2%). Vomiting decreased with increasing age and was observed in 41.7% of the 5-8 years group, 24.7% of the 9-12 years group, and 15.4% of the 13 to < 18 years group, whereas reported loss of consciousness (LOC) increased with increasing age, occurring in 9.6% in the 5-8 years group, 21.0% in the 9-12 years group, 36.7% in the 13 to < 18 years group, and 22.4% in the entire study cohort. Headache, amnesia, and disorientation followed the latter trajectory. Symptom profiles were broadly similar between males and females.

CONCLUSIONS

Concussions presenting to EDs were more sports-related as age increased. Signs and symptoms differed markedly across age groups, with vomiting decreasing and headache, LOC, amnesia, and disorientation increasing with increasing age.

Development of targeted, theory-informed interventions to improve bronchiolitis management

BACKGROUND

Despite international guidelines providing evidence-based recommendations on appropriate management of infants with bronchiolitis, wide variation in practice occurs. This results in infants receiving care of no benefit, with associated cost and is potentially harmful. Theoretical frameworks are increasingly used to develop interventions, utilising behaviour change techniques specifically chosen to target factors contributing to practice variation, with de-implementation often viewed as harder than implementing. This paper describes the stepped process using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to develop targeted, theory-informed interventions which subsequently successfully improved management of infants with bronchiolitis by de-implementing ineffective therapies. Explicit description of the process and rationale used in developing de-implementation interventions is critical to dissemination of these practices into real world clinical practice.

METHODS

A stepped approach was used: (1) Identify evidence-based recommendations and practice variation as targets for change, (2) Identify factors influencing practice change (barriers and enablers) to be addressed, and (3) Identification and development of interventions (behaviour change techniques and methods of delivery) addressing influencing factors, considering evidence of effectiveness, feasibility, local relevance and acceptability. The mode of delivery for the intervention components was informed by evidence from implementation science systematic reviews, and setting specific feasibility and practicality.

RESULTS

Five robust evidence-based management recommendations, targeting the main variation in bronchiolitis management were identified: namely, no use of chest x-ray, salbutamol, glucocorticoids, antibiotics, and adrenaline. Interventions developed to target recommendations addressed seven TDF domains (identified following qualitative clinician interviews (n = 20)) with 23 behaviour change techniques chosen to address these domains. Final interventions included: (1) Local stakeholder meetings, (2) Identification of medical and nursing clinical leads, (3) Train-the-trainer workshop for all clinical leads, (4) Local educational materials for delivery by clinical leads, (5) Provision of tools and materials targeting influencing factors, and prompting recommended behaviours, and (6) Audit and feedback.

CONCLUSION

A stepped approach based on theory, evidence and issues of feasibility, local relevance and acceptability, was successfully used to develop interventions to improve management of infants with bronchiolitis. The rationale and content of interventions has been explicitly described allowing others to de-implement unnecessary bronchiolitis management, thereby improving care.

Effectiveness of Targeted Interventions on Treatment of Infants With Bronchiolitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE

In developed countries, bronchiolitis is the most common reason for infants to be admitted to the hospital, and all international bronchiolitis guidelines recommend supportive care; however, significant variation in practice continues with infants receiving non-evidence-based therapies. Deimplementation research aims to reduce the use of low-value care, and advancing science in this area is critical to delivering evidence-based care.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of targeted interventions vs passive dissemination of an evidence-based bronchiolitis guideline in improving treatment of infants with bronchiolitis.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This international, multicenter cluster randomized clinical trial included 26 hospitals (clusters) in Australia and New Zealand providing tertiary or secondary pediatric care (13 randomized to intervention, 13 to control) during the 2017 bronchiolitis season. Data were collected on 8003 infants for the 3 bronchiolitis seasons (2014-2016) before the implementation period and 3727 infants for the implementation period (2017 bronchiolitis season, May 1-November 30). Data were analyzed from November 16, 2018, to December 9, 2020.

INTERVENTIONS

Interventions were developed using theories of behavior change to target key factors that influence bronchiolitis management. These interventions included site-based clinical leads, stakeholder meetings, a train-the-trainer workshop, targeted educational delivery, other educational and promotional materials, and audit and feedback.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcome was compliance during the first 24 hours of care with no use of chest radiography, albuterol, glucocorticoids, antibiotics, and epinephrine, measured retrospectively from medical records of randomly selected infants with bronchiolitis who presented to the hospital. There were no patient-level exclusions.

RESULTS

A total of 26 hospitals were randomized without dropouts. Analysis was by intention to treat. Baseline data collected on 8003 infants for 3 bronchiolitis seasons (2014-2016) before the implementation period were similar between intervention and control hospitals. Implementation period data were collected on 3727 infants, including 2328 boys (62%) and 1399 girls (38%), with a mean (SD) age of 6.0 (3.2) months. A total of 459 (12%) were Māori (New Zealand), and 295 (8%) were Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander (Australia). Compliance with recommendations was 85.1% (95% CI, 82.6%-89.7%) in intervention hospitals vs 73.0% (95% CI, 65.3%-78.8%) in control hospitals (adjusted risk difference, 14.1%; 95% CI, 6.5%-21.7%; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Targeted interventions led to improved treatment of infants with bronchiolitis. This study has important implications for bronchiolitis management and the development of effective interventions to deimplement low-value care.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12616001567415.

Managing low-risk febrile neutropenia in children in the time of COVID-19: What matters to parents and clinicians

AIM

The Australian 'There is no place like home' project is implementing a paediatric low-risk febrile neutropenia (FN) programme across eight paediatric hospitals. We sought to identify the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on programme implementation.

METHODS

Paediatric oncology, infectious diseases and emergency medicine health-care workers and parent/carers were surveyed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on home-based FN care. Online surveys were distributed nationally to health-care workers involved in care of children with FN and to parents or carers of children with cancer.

RESULTS

Surveys were completed by 78 health-care workers and 32 parents/carers. Overall, 95% of health-care workers had confidence in the safety of home-based FN care, with 35% reporting changes at their own hospitals in response to the pandemic that made them more comfortable with this model. Compared to pre-pandemic, >50% of parent/carers were now more worried about attending the hospital with their child and >80% were interested in receiving home-based FN care. Among both groups, increased telehealth access and acceptance of home-based care, improved patient quality of life and reduced risk of nosocomial infection were identified as programme enablers, while re-direction of resources due to COVID-19 and challenges in implementing change during a crisis were potential barriers.

CONCLUSION

There is strong clinician and parent/carer support for home-based management of low-risk FN across Australia. Changes made to the delivery of cancer care in response to the pandemic have generally increased acceptance for home-based treatments and opportunities exist to leverage these to refine the low-risk FN programme.

Review article: Developing the Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head Injuries in Children: An adoption/adaption approach

The Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) released the Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head Injuries in Children in 2021. We describe innovative and practical methods used to develop this guideline. Informed by GRADE-ADOLOPMENT and ADAPTE frameworks, we adopted or adapted recommendations from multiple high-quality guidelines or developed de novo recommendations. A Guideline Steering Committee and a multidisciplinary Guideline Working Group of 25 key stakeholder representatives formulated the guideline scope and developed 33 clinical questions. We identified four relevant high-quality source guidelines; their recommendations were mapped to clinical questions. The choice of guideline recommendation, if more than one guideline addressed a question, was based on its appropriateness, currency of the literature, access to evidence, and relevance. Updated literature searches identified 440 new studies and key new evidence identified. The decision to develop adopted, adapted or de novo recommendations was based on the supporting evidence-base and its transferability to the local setting. The guideline underwent a 12-week consultation period. The final guideline consisted of 35 evidence-informed and 17 consensus-based recommendations and 19 practice points. An algorithm to inform imaging and observation decision-making was also developed. The resulting process was an efficient and rigorous way to develop a guideline based on existing high-quality guidelines from different settings.

Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head Injuries in Children

OBJECTIVE

Children frequently present with head injuries to acute care settings. Although international paediatric clinical practice guidelines for head injuries exist, they do not address all considerations related to triage, imaging, observation versus admission, transfer, discharge and follow-up of mild to moderate head injuries relevant to the Australian and New Zealand context. The Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) set out to develop an evidence-based, locally applicable, practical clinical guideline for the care of children with mild to moderate head injuries presenting to acute care settings.

METHODS

A multidisciplinary Guideline Working Group (GWG) developed 33 questions in three key areas - triage, imaging and discharge of children with mild to moderate head injuries presenting to acute care settings. We identified existing high-quality guidelines and from these guidelines recommendations were mapped to clinical questions. Updated literature searches were undertaken, and key new evidence identified. Recommendations were created through either adoption, adaptation or development of de novo recommendations. The guideline was revised after a period of public consultation.

RESULTS

The GWG developed 71 recommendations (evidence-informed = 35, consensus-based = 17, practice points = 19), relevant to the Australian and New Zealand setting. The guideline is presented as three documents: (i) a detailed Full Guideline summarising the evidence underlying each recommendation; (ii) a Guideline Summary; and (iii) a clinical Algorithm: Imaging and Observation Decision-making for Children with Head Injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

The PREDICT Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head Injuries in Children provides high-level evidence and practical guidance for front line clinicians.

Where are children seen in Australian emergency departments? Implications for research efforts

OBJECTIVE

With most paediatric emergency research in Australia conducted at tertiary EDs, it is important to understand how presentations differ between those at tertiary paediatric EDs and all other EDs.

METHODS

Retrospective epidemiological study assessing paediatric case-mix and time-based performance metrics (aged 0-14 years) obtained from a national health service minimum dataset for the 2017-2018 financial year, comparing tertiary paediatric EDs and all other EDs. We defined a 'major tertiary paediatric hospital' as one which was accredited for training in both paediatric emergency medicine and paediatric intensive care.

RESULTS

Of the 1 695 854 paediatric ED presentations, 23.8% were seen in nine major metropolitan tertiary paediatric hospitals. Reasons for presentations were more distinctive between cohorts among children aged 10-14 years, where psychiatric illness (5.2% vs 2.5%) and neurological illness (4.5% vs 2.5%) were more commonly seen in major tertiary paediatric EDs. Australian Indigenous children were significantly less likely to present to tertiary paediatric EDs (3.0%), compared with other EDs (9.7%) (odds ratio 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.27). While median waiting times were longer in major tertiary paediatric EDs (28 min [interquartile range 11-65]) than in other EDs (20 min [interquartile range 8-48], P < 0.001), patients were also less likely to leave without being seen (5.5% in tertiary paediatric EDs vs 6.9% in other EDs; odds ratio 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.78-0.81).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study identified key areas of difference in paediatric presentations between tertiary paediatric EDs and other EDs. It is vital to broaden paediatric ED research beyond tertiary paediatric centres, to ensure relevance and generalisability.

Factors predictive for computed tomography use and abnormality in paediatric head injuries in Australia and New Zealand

OBJECTIVES

To investigate patient-level factors predictive for computed tomography of the brain (CTB) use and abnormality in head injured children in Australia and New Zealand.

METHODS

Retrospective data from tertiary, urban/suburban and regional/rural EDs including factors predictive for CTB use and abnormality.

RESULTS

Of 3072 children at 31 EDs, 212 (6.9%) had a CTB scan, of which 66 (31%) were abnormal. Increasing age, serious mechanisms of injury and decreasing Glasgow Coma Score were predictive for ordering CTB. Decreasing age was predictive for CTB abnormalities. Other factors were not.

CONCLUSION

Patient-level drivers of CTB use in children in Australia and New Zealand are consistent with international data.

Risk of traumatic intracranial haemorrhage in children with bleeding disorders

AIM

To assess computerised tomography (CT) use and the risk of intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in children with bleeding disorders following a head trauma.

METHODS

Design: Multicentre prospective observational study.

SETTING

10 paediatric emergency departments (ED) in Australia and New Zealand.

PATIENTS

Children <18 years with and without bleeding disorders assessed in ED following head trauma between April 2011 and November 2014.

INTERVENTIONS

Data collection of patient characteristics, management and outcomes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Rate of CT use and frequency of ICH on CT.

RESULTS

Of 20 137 patients overall, 103 (0.5%) had a congenital or acquired bleeding disorder. CT use was higher in these patients compared with children without bleeding disorders (30.1 vs. 10.4%; rate ratio 2.91 95% CI 2.16-3.91). Only one of 31 (3.2%) children who underwent CT in the ED had an ICH. This patient rapidly deteriorated in the ED on arrival and required neurosurgery. None of the patients with bleeding disorders who did not have a CT obtained in the ED or had an initial negative CT had evidence of ICH on follow up.

CONCLUSIONS

Although children with a bleeding disorder and a head trauma more often received a CT scan in the ED, their risk of ICH seemed low and appeared associated with post-traumatic clinical findings. Selective CT use combined with observation may be cautiously considered in these children based on clinical presentation and severity of bleeding disorder.

Mild traumatic brain injury in children with ventricular shunts: a PREDICT study

OBJECTIVE

Current clinical decision rules (CDRs) guiding the use of CT scanning in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) assessment generally exclude children with ventricular shunts (VSs). There is limited evidence as to the risk of abnormalities found on CT scans or clinically important TBI (ciTBI) in this population. The authors sought to determine the frequency of these outcomes and the presence of CDR predictor variables in children with VSs.

METHODS

The authors undertook a planned secondary analysis on children with VSs included in a prospective external validation of 3 CDRs for TBI in children presenting to 10 emergency departments in Australia and New Zealand. They analyzed differences in presenting features, management and acute outcomes (TBI on CT and ciTBI) between groups with and without VSs, and assessed the presence of CDR predictors in children with a VS.

RESULTS

A total of 35 of 20,137 children (0.2%) with TBI had a VS; only 2 had a Glasgow Coma Scale score < 15. Overall, 49% of patients with a VS underwent CT scanning compared with 10% of those without a VS. One patient had a finding of TBI on CT scanning, with positive predictor variables on CDRs. This patient had a ciTBI. No patient required neurosurgery. For children with and without a VS, the frequency of ciTBI was 2.9% (95% CI 0.1%-14.9%) compared with 1.4% (95% CI 1.2%-1.6%) (difference 1.5% [95% CI -4.0% to 7.0%]), and TBI on CT 2.9% (95% CI 0.1%-14.9%) compared with 2.0% (95% CI 1.8%-2.2%) (difference 0.9%, 95% CI -4.6% to 6.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

The authors' data provide further support that the risk of TBI is similar for children with and without a VS.

Knowledge translation in Western Australia tertiary paediatric emergency department: An audit cycle of effectiveness of guideline dissemination on bronchiolitis management

AIM

Bronchiolitis is the commonest cause of hospitalisation for infants. Evidence-based Australasian bronchiolitis guideline was developed and introduced in 2017. This audit was to determine if the knowledge translation process of the updated local tertiary hospital bronchiolitis guideline (based on the Australasian guideline) reduced unnecessary interventions.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of infants with bronchiolitis diagnosis during the pre-guideline (1 July to 31 August 2015) and post-guideline (1 July to 31 August 2017) period, with the primary outcome of the number/proportion of unnecessary interventions.

RESULTS

Presentations between 1 July to 31 August 2015 (n = 465) were compared with 2017 (n = 343). There was no difference in undertaking chest X-ray (24 (5.2%) vs. 17 (5.0%), odds ratio (OR) 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71-1.35), P = 0.911), salbutamol (23 (4.9%) vs. 10 (2.9%), OR 0.86 (95% CI 0.65-1.13), P = 0.279), glucocorticoids (2 (0.4%) vs. 5 (1.5%), OR 1.89 (95% CI 0.83-4.31), p = 0.129), antibiotics (11 (2.4%) vs. 5 (1.5%), OR 0.86 (95% CI 0.65-1.15), P = 0.307) or nasopharyngeal aspirate (172 (37%) vs. 124 (36.2%), OR 1.00 (95% CI 0.87-1.67), P = 0.937) in hospital. Adrenaline was not administered in both years. There was reduced hospital admissions (303 (65.2%) vs. 192 (56.0%), OR 0.82 (95% CI 0.71-0.95), P = 0.008) with no difference in paediatric intensive care unit admissions (10 (2.2%) vs. 8 (2.3%), OR 1.04 (95% CI 0.65-1.67), P = 0.863).

CONCLUSION

The dissemination process of the updated local hospital bronchiolitis guideline did not show any statistically significant reduction of unnecessary interventions in the hospital. Further studies are required to determine the effective process to instigate changes in health services.