Asunto(s)
Exantema , Fiebre , Niño , Estudios de Cohortes , Fiebre/etiología , Humanos , Estudios Prospectivos , Reino UnidoAsunto(s)
Antibacterianos/normas , Antibacterianos/uso terapéutico , Antivirales/normas , Antivirales/uso terapéutico , COVID-19 , Otitis/tratamiento farmacológico , Faringitis/tratamiento farmacológico , Infecciones del Sistema Respiratorio/tratamiento farmacológico , Adolescente , Niño , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Masculino , Otitis/epidemiología , Faringitis/epidemiología , Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto , SARS-CoV-2 , Reino UnidoAsunto(s)
Infecciones por Chlamydia , Conjuntivitis , Gonorrea , Oftalmía Neonatal , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Atención Primaria de SaludRESUMEN
Determining severity of illness and undertaking an adequate risk assessment is a fundamental part of acute paediatric practice. This review highlights physiology, communication, heuristics and external elements as factors which influence decision-making and discusses how incidence of disease and seniority of clinician impact might influence outcomes.
Asunto(s)
Enfermedad Crítica , Toma de Decisiones , Pediatría/métodos , Pediatría/normas , Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto , Medición de Riesgo/métodos , Medición de Riesgo/normas , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , MasculinoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: In an attempt to improve the diagnosis of sepsis in children, diagnostic aids have concentrated on clinical features that suggest that sepsis is present. Clinicians need to be able to clinically rule out sepsis as well as rule it in. Little is known about which features are consistent with wellness and/or absence of sepsis. Guidelines are therefore likely to improve sensitivity without preserving specificity. We aimed to gather expert opinion on which (if any) features would make clinicians consider a child to be unlikely to have sepsis. DESIGN: We undertook a modified two-round international Delphi study, where clinicians were asked for features they believed were indicators of wellness in an ill child. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and ninety-five clinicians (predominantly physicians) who routinely assessed unwell children and had been doing so for most of their careers. RESULTS: Over 90% of respondents rated age-appropriate verbalisation, playing, smiling and activity as reassuring that a child was unlikely to have sepsis. Eating, spontaneous interaction and normal movement were also agreed to be reassuring by over 70% of participants. Consolability and showing fear of the clinician were not felt to be adequately reassuring. There was wide range of opinion on how reassuring the use of an electronic device was thought to be. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that physicians are reassured by specific behaviours in ill children, and provides a framework which may be used to help guide the assessment of the unwell child. Validation of individual features could lead to improved specificity of diagnostic aids for diagnosing sepsis.