Clinical trial NCT01196793: Hospital Admissions in Children Aged 3 Months to 5 Years Presenting With Fever to the Emergency Department
Official title: Evaluation of Medical and Non-medical Factors Associated With Admission of Children Aged 3 Months to 5 Years Presenting to the Urban Paediatric Emergency Department With Febrile Illness in the United Kingdom and in Switzerland
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Fever
Keywords: Feverish illness in children
Lead sponsor: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2010-09-08
Enrollment: 108
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 3
Maximum age (years): 5
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Children aged 3 months to 5 years presenting to an urban paediatric emergency department with fever

Brief summary: This study primarily aims to describe factors associated with hospitalisation of children aged 3 months to 5 years presenting with fever to an urban paediatric A\&E departments by describing and analysing characteristics both of those patients admitted to hospital and those managed in the community. To complement this, information on the short-term healthcare utilization by families attending the emergency department because of feverish illness will be collected. The study will be carried out in one participating centre in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, respectively, to enable a head to head comparison of the assessment and admission practices in two European countries. The resulting data will be used as the basis for further research in this area and will provide information on how to optimally structure service provision in acute febrile childhood illness.

Detailed description: A significant number of children 0 to 5 years of age are seen in paediatric Accident \& Emergency departments (A\&E) with feverish illness. Most of these patients could safely be managed in a primary care setting, particularly with guidelines in place on how to optimally assess these children. Some patients, however, will require admission, either because of a potentially serious underlying disease or because of other factors, for example parental concern or difficulties in communication because of language barriers. An increase in the number of children attending A\&E departments with feverish illness as well as a rise in the volume of admissions has been noted over time. To enable an appropriate adaptation of acute medical services for children an in depth understanding of the assessment and admission processes is crucial.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Child aged 3months to 5years
* Temperature above or equal to 38°C measured by any method or reported hot by parents

Exclusion Criteria:

* none

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Admission to Hospital Due to Parental High Levels of Worry
timeFrame: 7-10 days
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Zurich
country: Switzerland
facility: University Children's Hospital
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: St Mary's Hospital, Imperial NHS Hospitals Trust
Study officials:
affiliation: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
name: Hermione Lyall, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: