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Background: There is little experience on the use of the WHO Standards for improving the quality of care (QOC) for children. We describe the use of four prioritised WHO Standard-based Quality Measures to assess the provision of care for children with pain in emergency departments (EDs)., Methods: In a multicentre observational study in 10 EDs with different characteristics in Italy, we collected data on 3355 children accessing the EDs between January 2019 and December 2020. The association between children and facility characteristics and quality measures was analysed through multivariate analyses., Results: The proportion of children whose pain was measured was 68.7% (n=2305), with extreme variations across different centres (from 0.0% to 99.8%, p<0.001). The proportion of children treated for pain was 28.9% (n=970) again with a wide range (5.3%-56.3%, p<0.001). The difference between the frequency of children with pain measured and pain treated varied widely between the facilities (ranging from -24.3 to 82). Children with moderate and severe pain were more frequently treated (48.9% and 62.9% of cases, respectively), although with large variations across centres (ranges: 0%-74.8% and 0%-100% respectively, p<0.001). After correction for children's characteristics, the variable more strongly associated with analysed outcomes was the facility which the child accessed for care. Being a facility in Northern Italy was associated with a higher rate of pain measurement (67.3%-95% CI: 39.9% to 94.6%, p<0.001) compared with facilities in South Italy (-22.1% lower (95% CI: -41.7% to -2.50%, p=0.03)., Conclusions: The use of few WHO Standard-based measures related to pain can help identifying priority gaps in QOC for children and in monitoring it over time. There is a need for more implementation research to establish which are the most sustainable and effective interventions to improve the QOC for acute pain in children., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: There is little experience in implementing the WHO Standards for improving the quality of care (QOC) for children. We describe the use of 75 WHO-Standard based Quality Measures to assess paediatric QOC, using health workers (HWs) as data sources., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: 12 Italian hospitals., Participants: The minimum target of 75% of HWs was reached in all facilities; answers from 598 HWs were analysed., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: 75 prioritised WHO Quality Measures were collected using a validated, and Italian-language questionnaire exploring views of HWs providing care to children. A QOC index was also calculated based on the assessed Quality Measures., Results: In both the domain of resources and work organisation, most Quality Measures showed a high overall frequency of reported 'need for improvement', with high variability across hospitals. Key needs for improvement included: availability of clear and complete protocols (eg, on paediatric emergencies: 44.6%; range 10.6%-92.6%); clear hospitalisation criteria for diarrhoea (50.5%; range 30.3%-71.7%); number of hand-washing stations (13.2%; range 3.4%-37.0%); equipped working rooms with computers for HWs (66.1%; range: 32.1%-97.0%); training (eg, on pain management: 43.5%; range 17.9%-76.7%), periodic discussion of clinical cases (43.5%; range 8.1%-83.7%) audits (48.8%; range 29.7%-76.7%); and all indicators related to system to improve QOC. Factors significantly associated with a lower QOC Index included HWs working in facilities in Southern Italy (p=0.001) and absence of a paediatric emergency department (p=0.011)., Conclusions: The use of the 75 prioritised Quality Measures, specific to HWs provide valuable data on paediatric QOC, which can be used to drive a quality improvement process., Competing Interests: Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: There is no documented experience in the use of the WHO standards for improving the quality of care (QOC) for children at the facility level. We describe the use of 10 prioritised WHO-Standard-based Quality Measures to assess QOC for children with acute diarrhoea (AD) in Italy., Methods: In a multicentre observational study in 11 paediatric emergency departments with different characteristics and geographical location, we collected data on 3061 children aged 6 months to 15 years with AD and no complications. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted., Results: Study findings highlighted both good practices and gaps in QoC, with major differences in QOC across facilities. Documentation of body weight and temperature varied from 7.7% to 98.5% and from 50% to 97.7%, respectively (p<0.001); antibiotic and probiotic prescription rates ranged from 0% to 10.1% and from 0% to 80.8%, respectively (p<0.001); hospitalisations rates ranged between 8.5% and 62.8% (p<0.001); written indications for reassessment were provided in 10.4%-90.2% of cases (p<0.001). When corrected for children's individual characteristics, the variable more consistently associated with each analysed outcome was the individual facility. Higher rates of antibiotics prescription (+7.6%, p=0.04) and hospitalisation (+52.9%, p<0.001) were observed for facilities in Southern Italy, compared with university centres (-36%, p<0.001), independently from children characteristics. Children's clinical characteristics in each centre were not associated with either hospitalisation or antibiotic prescription rates., Conclusions: The 10 prioritised WHO-Standard-based Quality Measures allow a rapid assessment of QOC in children with AD. Action is needed to identify and implement sustainable and effective interventions to ensure high QOC for all children., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Accidents are the main cause of injury in children, more than half events happen at home. Aims of this study were to assess if SARS-CoV-2 lockdown influence emergency department (ED) visits due to children domestic accident (DAs) and to identify factors associated with hospitalization. This was a multicentre, observational, and retrospective cohort study involving 16 EDs in Italy and enrolling children (3-13 years) receiving a visit in ED during March-June 2019 and March-June 2020. Risk factors for hospitalization were identified by logistic regression models. In total, 8860 ED visits due to domestic accidents in children occurred before (4380) and during (4480) lockdown, with a mean incidence of DA of 5.6% in 2019 and 17.9% in 2020 (p < 0.001) (IRR: 3.16; p < 0.001). The risk of hospitalization was influenced by the type of occurred accident, with fourfold higher for poisoning and twofold lower risk for stab-wound ones. In addition, a higher risk was reported for lockdown period vs 2019 (OR: 1.9; p < 0.001), males (OR: 1.4; p < 0.001), and it increased with age (OR: 1.1; p < 0.001).    Conclusions: The main limitation of this study is the retrospective collection of data, available only for patients who presented at the hospital. This does highlight possible differences in the total number of incidents that truly occurred. In any case, the COVID-19 lockdown had a high impact on the frequency of DAs and on hospitalization. A public health campaign aimed at caregivers would be necessary to minimize possible risks at home. What is Known: • In Italy, domestic accidents are the second leading cause of paediatric mortality after cancer. • During the first SARS-CoV-2 lockdown in 2020, a sharp decrease in the total number of Emergency Departments visits for all causes was observed, both in children and in adults. What is New: • During the first SARS-CoV-2 lockdown in 2020, domestic accidents involving children increased threefold from the previous year. • Higher risk of hospitalization was showed in minors accessing during 2020 vs 2019, in males than in females and it increased with advancing age. Considering the type of injury, a significant higher risk of hospitalization for poisoning was observed., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

BackgroundVery few studies describe factors associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in children.AimWe here describe characteristics and risk factors for COVID-19 diagnosis in children tested in 20 paediatric centres across Italy.MethodsWe included cases aged 0-18 years tested between 23 February and 24 May 2020. Our primary analysis focused on children tested because of symptoms/signs suggestive of COVID-19.ResultsAmong 2,494 children tested, 2,148 (86.1%) had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19. Clinical presentation of confirmed COVID-19 cases included besides fever (82.4%) and respiratory signs or symptoms (60.4%) also gastrointestinal (18.2%), neurological (18.9%), cutaneous (3.8%) and other unspecific influenza-like presentations (17.8%). In multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 positivity were: exposure history (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 39.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): 17.52-90.55; p < 0.0001), cardiac disease (AOR: 3.10; 95% CI: 1.19-5.02; p < 0.0001), fever (AOR: 3.05%; 95% CI: 1.67-5.58; p = 0.0003) and anosmia/ageusia (AOR: 4.08; 95% CI: 1.69-9.84; p = 0.002). Among 190 (7.6%) children positive for SARS-CoV-2, only four (2.1%) required respiratory support and two (1.1%) were admitted to intensive care; all recovered.ConclusionRecommendations for SARS-CoV-2 testing in children should consider the evidence of broader clinical features. Exposure history, fever and anosmia/ageusia are strong risk factors in children for positive SARS-CoV-2 testing, while other symptoms did not help discriminate positive from negative individuals. This study confirms that COVID-19 was a mild disease in the general paediatric population in Italy. Further studies are needed to understand risk, clinical spectrum and outcomes of COVID-19 in children with pre-existing conditions.

Background: An increased but unpredictable risk of malnutrition is associated with hospitalization, especially in children with chronic diseases. We investigated the applicability of Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids), an instrument proposed to estimate the risk of malnutrition in hospitalized children. We also evaluated the role of age and co-morbidities as risk for malnutrition., Methods: The STRONGkids consists of 4 items providing a score that classifies a patient in low, moderate, high risk for malnutrition. A prospective observational multi-centre study was performed in 12 Italian hospitals. Children 1-18 years consecutively admitted and otherwise unselected were enrolled. Their STRONGkids score was obtained and compared with the actual nutritional status expressed as BMI and Height for Age SD-score., Results: Of 144 children (75 males, mean age 6.5 ± 4.5 years), 52 (36%) had an underlying chronic disease. According to STRONGkids, 46 (32%) children were at low risk, 76 (53%) at moderate risk and 22 (15%) at high risk for malnutrition. The latter had significantly lower Height for Age values (mean SD value -1.07 ± 2.08; p = 0.008) and BMI values (mean SD-values -0.79 ± 2.09; p = 0.0021) in comparison to other groups. However, only 29 children were actually malnourished., Conclusions: The STRONGkids is easy to administer. It is highly sensitive but not specific. It may be used as a very preliminary screening tool to be integrated with other clinical data in order to reliably predict the risk of malnutrition.

Disclosure of the HIV status to infected children is often delayed due to psychosocial problems in their families. We aimed at improving the quality of life in families of HIV-infected children, thus promoting disclosure of the HIV status to children by parents. Parents of 17 HIV-infected children (4.2-18 years) followed at our Center for pediatric HIV, unaware of their HIV status, were randomly assigned to the intervention group (8 monthly sessions of family group psychotherapy, FGP) or to the control group not receiving psychotherapy. Changes in the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB-I) and in the Short-Form State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Sf-STAI), as well as the HIV status disclosure to children by parents, were measured. Ten parents were assigned to the FGP group, while 7 parents to the controls. Psychological well-being increased in 70% of the FGP parents and none of the control group (p=0.017), while anxiety decreased in the FGP group but not in controls (60% vs. 0%, p=0.03). HIV disclosure took place for 6/10 children of the intervention group and for 1/7 of controls. Family group psychotherapy had a positive impact on the environment of HIV-infected children, promoting psychological well-being and the disclosure of the HIV status to children.