Signs and symptoms of serious illness in infants aged up to 6 months: rapid review of clinical guidelines
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a need to empower parents and carers of young infants to recognise signs of serious illness and to act on these appropriately. Compiling the signs and symptoms of serious illness in infants found in clinical guidelines will support the evidence-based update of the 30+-year-old content of the Baby Check App to empower parents and carers. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review clinical guidelines for signs and symptoms related to serious illness in infants aged 6 months and below. METHODS: A rapid review was carried out by searching PubMed, CINAHL, NICE, Cochrane and Embase for clinical guidelines reporting signs and symptoms of serious illness in young infants. The time period was restricted from 2018 to 2023. Only guidelines published in English were included. RESULTS: Fourteen clinical guidelines from 2307 retrieved articles were reviewed. Sixty signs and symptoms indicative of serious illness in infants were identified from the clinical guidelines. The guidelines originated from the UK (n=9, 65%), Italy (n=1, 7%), South Africa (n=1, 7%), Switzerland (n=1, 7%), USA (n=1, 7%), UK and USA (n=1, 7%). The 10 most frequent signs and symptoms were decreased consciousness, tachypnoea, looks seriously unwell to a health professional, high fever, central cyanosis, apnoea, seizures, frequent vomiting, non-blanching rash and noisy breathing. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the most frequently occurring signs and symptoms that were found in the reviewed guidelines will contribute to the update of the content of the Baby Check App. This will ensure that guidance for parents and carers is consistent with the current evidence base.
Date Issued
2024-07
Date Acceptance
2024-07-01
Citation
BMJ Paediatrics Open, 2024, 8 (1)
ISSN
2399-9772
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Paediatrics Open
Volume
8
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 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. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:Â http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
employer(s)) 2024. Re-use
permitted under CC BY-NC. No
commercial re-use. See rights
and permissions. Published by
BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:Â http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39074954
Subjects
Critical Illness
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Practice Guidelines as Topic
child health
infant
information technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
e002737
Date Publish Online
2024-07-29