Children with fever and cough at emergency care: diagnostic accuracy of a clinical model to identify children at low risk of pneumonia.

Objectives: To develop and validate a prediction model for the early identification of children with pneumonia in emergency care settings.

Methods: This was a diagnostic study with derivation and validation of multivariate logistic regression models. This study was carried out on children aged 1 month-16 years presenting with fever and cough visiting the pediatric emergency department of the Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (derivation population, n=504); Pediatric Assessment Unit, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, UK (validation population 1, n=420); Accident & Emergency Department, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK (validation population 2, n=366).

Which symptoms and clinical features correctly identify serious respiratory infection in children attending a paediatric assessment unit?

Objective: Parent-reported symptoms are frequently used to triage children, but little is known about which symptoms identify children with serious respiratory infections. The authors aimed to identify symptoms and triage findings predictive of serious respiratory infection, and to quantify agreement between parent and nurse assessment.

Design: Prospective diagnostic cohort study.

Views on personalized medicine: do the attitudes of African American and white prescription drug consumers differ?

Aims: Although recent advances in pharmacogenomics are making possible the use of genetic testing to determine the best medication for patients, little is known about how patients view such procedures. The aims for this study that were developed collaboratively as part of a community-academic partnership are: (1) What are the attitudes and perceptions of prescription drug consumers concerning personalized medicine and genetic testing for drug compatibility and how do they differ between African American and white patients? (2) What are the attitudes and perceptions of patients concerning race-based prescribing and how do they differ between African American and white patients?

Methods: We conducted 6 focus groups, 2 with white participants and 4 with African American participants. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to ascertain common themes.

How well do vital signs identify children with serious infections in paediatric emergency care?

Objectives: To determine whether vital signs identify children with serious infections, and to compare their diagnostic value with that of the Manchester triage score (MTS) and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) traffic light system of clinical risk factors.

Design: Prospective cohort of children presenting with suspected acute infection. We recorded vital signs, level of consciousness, activity level, respiratory distress, hydration and MTS category.

Children and young people's preference of thematic design and colour for their hospital environment.

In this innovative project, the views of children and young people were explored regarding their preference of thematic design and colour for their hospital environment in a new children's unit. The novelty of the approach was that it was driven by the preferred choices of children and young people through the use of 'child-friendly' interviews and questionnaires. Informing the study was the development of a group of children and young people who underwent research training, and with support, developed all data collection tools and helped to verify data analysis.