Hospital Admissions in Children Aged 3 Months to 5 Years Presenting With Fever to the Emergency Department

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

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Fever

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.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 108

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Zurich, Switzerland, 8032
    • University Children's Hospital
• United Kingdom
  • London, United Kingdom, W2 1NY
    • St Mary's Hospital, Imperial NHS Hospitals Trust

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 months to 5 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Children aged 3 months to 5 years presenting to an urban paediatric emergency department with fever

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
febrile children, age 3 m to 5 y

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Admission to Hospital Due to Parental High Levels of Worry	Interview with the patient family to evaluation of the reasons for admission to emergency department	7-10 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hermione Lyall, MD, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 30, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 3, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): July 3, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 6, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 7, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): September 8, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 17, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2019
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Feverish illness in children
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Body Temperature Changes; Emergencies; Fever
• Other Study ID Numbers: SMH 24062010 V1 4

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No