Introduction Childhood secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) is linked with increased morbidity and mo... more Introduction Childhood secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) is linked with increased morbidity and mortality. Hospital or secondary care contact presents a ‘teachable moment’ to support parents to change their home smoking behaviours to reduce children’s SHSe. This mixed-methods review explores: (1) if existing interventions in this context are effective, (2) if they are reported in sufficient detail to be replicated, (3) the experiences of HCPs delivering such interventions, and (4) the experiences of parents receiving such interventions. Methods Five electronic databases and the grey literature were searched for relevant literature published and indexed January 1980 to February 2020. Fourteen papers reporting twelve studies (nine quantitative and five qualitative) were included. Aligned with the Joanna Briggs Institute method, a segregated approach was used involving independent syntheses of the quantitative and qualitative data followed by an overall mixed-methods synthesis. Results ...
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care
IntroductionOvarian Cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Extensive or ultra-radical ... more IntroductionOvarian Cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Extensive or ultra-radical surgery aims to improve the outcome by removing all visible tumour. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence UK 2013 Guidance expressed concern about its efficacy and safety, recommending research comparing complication rates, survival and quality of life with those following standard surgery. We present prospective observational data on quality of life and survival following surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. Innovative methods were used to collect patient reported outcomes and complex surgical information to compare outcomes of surgery of greater or lesser complexity used in routine practice.MethodsA cohort study collected disease, surgical, complications, survival and quality of life data (validated instruments including EURO-QOL, EORTC-30 and OVA28) across a 2-year period in 12 United Kingdom sites and in parallel studies in Melbourne, Australia and Kolkata, India.ResultsT...
Background The optimal corticosteroid regimen for treating the presenting episode of steroid-sens... more Background The optimal corticosteroid regimen for treating the presenting episode of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) remains uncertain. Most UK centres use an 8-week regimen, despite previous systematic reviews indicating that longer regimens reduce the risk of relapse and frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS). Objectives The primary objective was to determine whether or not an extended 16-week course of prednisolone increases the time to first relapse. The secondary objectives were to compare the relapse rate, FRNS and steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS) rates, requirement for alternative immunosuppressive agents and corticosteroid-related adverse events (AEs), including adverse behaviour and costs. Design Randomised double-blind parallel-group placebo-controlled trial, including a cost-effectiveness analysis. Setting One hundred and twenty-five UK paediatric departments. Participants Two hundred and thirty-seven children presenting with a first episode...
ObjectiveTo determine whether extending initial prednisolone treatment from eight to 16 weeks in ... more ObjectiveTo determine whether extending initial prednisolone treatment from eight to 16 weeks in children with idiopathic steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome improves the pattern of disease relapse.DesignDouble blind, parallel group, phase III randomised placebo controlled trial, including a cost effectiveness analysis.Setting125 UK National Health Service district general hospitals and tertiary paediatric nephrology centres.Participants237 children aged 1-14 years with a first episode of steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome.InterventionsChildren were randomised to receive an extended 16 week course of prednisolone (total dose 3150 mg/m2) or a standard eight week course of prednisolone (total dose 2240 mg/m2). The drug was supplied as 5 mg tablets alongside matching placebo so that participants in both groups received the same number of tablets at any time point in the study. A minimisation algorithm ensured balanced treatment allocation by ethnicity (South Asian, white, or other) ...
Objective: To determine the feasibility and short-term efficacy of caregiver-directed constraint-... more Objective: To determine the feasibility and short-term efficacy of caregiver-directed constraint-induced movement therapy to improve upper limb function in young children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Design: Randomized controlled trial with masked assessment. Setting: Community paediatric therapy services. Subjects: Pre-school children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Interventions: Caregiver-directed constraint-induced movement therapy administered using either 24-hour short-arm restraint device (prolonged) or intermittent holding restraint during therapy (manual). Main measures: Primary measures include Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) at 10 weeks. Secondary measures include adverse events, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. Feasibility measures include recruitment, retention, data completeness and adherence. Results: About 62/81 (72%) of eligible patients in 16 centres were randomized (prolonged restraint n = 30; manual restraint n = ...
Extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal may have a role in treatment of patients with hype... more Extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal may have a role in treatment of patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure and refractory hypoxaemia and/or hypercapnia. We report on the use, outcomes and complications in United Kingdom intensive care units reporting patients on the Extracorporal Life Support Organisation register. Of 60 patients, 42 (70%) had primarily hypoxic respiratory failure and 18 (30%) primarily hypercapnic respiratory failure. Use of veno-venous procedures increased compared to arterio-venous procedures. Following extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal, ventilatory and blood gas parameters improved at 24 h. Twenty-seven (45%) of patients died before ICU discharge, while 27 (45%) of patients were discharged alive. The most common complications related to thrombosis or haemorrhage. There is limited use of extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal in UK clinical practice and outcomes reflect variability in indications and the technology used. Usa...
The Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) questionnaire is a widely used, generic instru... more The Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) questionnaire is a widely used, generic instrument designed for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL); however, it is not preference-based and therefore not suitable for cost-utility analysis. The Child Health Utility Index-9 Dimension (CHU-9D), however, is a preference-based instrument that has been primarily developed to support cost-utility analysis. This paper presents a method for estimating CHU-9D index scores from responses to the PedsQL™ using data from a randomised controlled trial of prednisolone therapy for treatment of childhood corticosteroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. HRQoL data were collected from children at randomisation, week 16, and months 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48. Observations on children aged 5 years and older were pooled across all data collection timepoints and were then randomised into an estimation (n = 279) and validation (n = 284) sample. A number of models were developed using the estimation da...
IntroductionLess than 1% of children have complex medical conditions but account for one-third of... more IntroductionLess than 1% of children have complex medical conditions but account for one-third of all child health spending. The impact of suboptimal management of this group of children can have a considerable effect on families as well as services. Some families appear to cope more easily than others do, but there are compelling reasons to suggest that effective interventions may improve family coping and ultimately outcomes. Hospitalisation of their child presents a unique set of pressures and challenges for parents, but also an opportunity to intervene. However, the evidence is not well described in relation to this group of families. The primary objective of this scoping review is to identify parent and family-based interventions available to improve parental health, well-being, functioning or skills in the context of a child’s medically complex hospital admission and hospital care.Methods and analysisNine bibliographic databases will be searched spanning medicine, nursing, psy...
Journal of health services research & policy, 2017
Objectives To explore paediatric nurses' experiences and perspectives of their role in the me... more Objectives To explore paediatric nurses' experiences and perspectives of their role in the medication process and how this role is enacted in everyday practice. Methods A qualitative case study on a general surgical ward of a paediatric hospital in England, one year prior to the planned implementation of ePrescribing. Three focus groups and six individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving 24 nurses. Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymized and subjected to thematic analysis. Results Two overarching analytical themes were identified: the centrality of risk management in nurses' role in the medication process and the distributed nature of nurses' medication risk management practices. Nurses' contribution to medication safety was seen as an intrinsic feature of a role that extended beyond just preparing and administering medications as prescribed and placed nurses at the heart of a dynamic set of interactions, practices...
The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Jan 13, 2017
Adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) should be provided to individuals considered to be at high risk o... more Adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) should be provided to individuals considered to be at high risk of anaphylaxis. There is some evidence that the rate of AAI prescription is increasing, but the true extent has not been previously quantified. To estimate the trends in annual GP-issued prescriptions for AAI among UK children between 2000 and 2012. Retrospective cohort study using data from primary care practices that contributed to The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Children and young people aged between 0-17 years of age with a prescription for AAIs were identified, and annual AAI device prescription rates were estimated using Stata (version 12). A total of 1.06 million UK children were identified, providing 5.1 million person years of follow-up data. Overall, 23 837 children were deemed high risk by their GPs, and were prescribed 98 737 AAI devices. This equates to 4.67 children (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.66 to 4.69), and 19.4 (95% CI = 19.2 to 19.5) devices per 10...
The mortality associated with liver disease continues to increase, despite the improvements imple... more The mortality associated with liver disease continues to increase, despite the improvements implemented in the UK healthcare as does the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), given the escalating prevalence of obesity. The currently available methods to assess and monitor the stage of liver disease present several limitations. Recently, multiparametric MRI has been developed to address these limitations. The aim of this study is to develop a decision analytic model for patients with suspected NAFLD, to investigate the effect of adding multiparametric MRI to the diagnostic pathway. The model takes the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS) as the service provider. A simple decision-tree model was developed to compare the costs associated with 3 diagnostic pathways for NAFLD that use non-invasive techniques. First, using transient elastography alone; second, using multiparametric MRI as an adjunct to transient elastography and third, multiparametric MRI...
The incidence and prevalence of allergies worldwide has been increasing and allergy services glob... more The incidence and prevalence of allergies worldwide has been increasing and allergy services globally are unable to keep up with this increase in demand. This systematic review aims to understand the delivery of allergy services worldwide, challenges faced and future directions for service delivery. A systematic scoping review of Ovid, EMBASE, HMIC, CINAHL, Cochrane, DARE, NHS EED and INAHTA databases was carried out using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data on the geographical region, study design and treatment pathways described were collected, and the findings were narratively reported. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. 205 publications were screened and 27 selected for review. Only 3 were prospective studies, and none included a control group. There were no eligible publications identified from North America, Africa, Australia and most parts of Asia. Most publications relate to allergy s...
There is increasing evidence that electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) or computerised provider/... more There is increasing evidence that electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) or computerised provider/physician order entry (CPOE) systems can improve the quality and safety of healthcare services. However, it has also become clear that their implementation is not straightforward and may create unintended or undesired consequences once in use. In this context, qualitative approaches have been particularly useful and their interpretative synthesis could make an important and timely contribution to the field. This review will aim to identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative studies on ePrescribing/CPOE in hospital settings, with or without clinical decision support. Data sources will include the following bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, MEDLINE In Process, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Social Policy and Practice via Ovid, CINAHL via EBSCO, The Cochrane Library (CDSR, DARE and CENTRAL databases), Nursing and Allied Health Sources, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts via ProQuest and SCOPU...
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Feb 1, 2007
The aim was to develop a tool that measures patient dependency and disease severity in children w... more The aim was to develop a tool that measures patient dependency and disease severity in children with mild to severe liver disease. The initial pilot score was based on known markers of disease severity in acute and chronic liver disease. Between 1997 and 2001, the score was modified 4 times and reduced to comprise 10 key parameters: aspartate transaminase, prothrombin time, albumin, bilirubin, ascites, nutritional support, organ dysfunction, blood product support, sepsis and intravenous access. The score's face validity, internal consistency, interobserver agreement and construct validity were evaluated statistically and by the use of endpoints such as survival and transplant after 6 months. The final 10 variable score was tested on 71 children admitted over two 3-month periods. The Cronbach's alpha score (a test for internal consistency) for the total score was 0.72. Serial data paralleled clinical deterioration and response to interventions. A Paediatric Hepatology Dependency score >15 had an odds ratio of 7 (P = 0.0125) for death or transplant at 6 months. The score was also found to agree with the paediatric end-stage liver disease score for the 12 patients being listed for liver transplantation (r = 0.660, P < 0.05). The Paediatric Hepatology Dependency score is valid and internally consistent and is a convenient measure of dependency and disease severity in a heterogeneous group of patients with liver disease. It also allows admissions to be audited for comparison between eras and for monitoring the progress of patients while on the ward.
Introduction Childhood secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) is linked with increased morbidity and mo... more Introduction Childhood secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) is linked with increased morbidity and mortality. Hospital or secondary care contact presents a ‘teachable moment’ to support parents to change their home smoking behaviours to reduce children’s SHSe. This mixed-methods review explores: (1) if existing interventions in this context are effective, (2) if they are reported in sufficient detail to be replicated, (3) the experiences of HCPs delivering such interventions, and (4) the experiences of parents receiving such interventions. Methods Five electronic databases and the grey literature were searched for relevant literature published and indexed January 1980 to February 2020. Fourteen papers reporting twelve studies (nine quantitative and five qualitative) were included. Aligned with the Joanna Briggs Institute method, a segregated approach was used involving independent syntheses of the quantitative and qualitative data followed by an overall mixed-methods synthesis. Results ...
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care
IntroductionOvarian Cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Extensive or ultra-radical ... more IntroductionOvarian Cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Extensive or ultra-radical surgery aims to improve the outcome by removing all visible tumour. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence UK 2013 Guidance expressed concern about its efficacy and safety, recommending research comparing complication rates, survival and quality of life with those following standard surgery. We present prospective observational data on quality of life and survival following surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. Innovative methods were used to collect patient reported outcomes and complex surgical information to compare outcomes of surgery of greater or lesser complexity used in routine practice.MethodsA cohort study collected disease, surgical, complications, survival and quality of life data (validated instruments including EURO-QOL, EORTC-30 and OVA28) across a 2-year period in 12 United Kingdom sites and in parallel studies in Melbourne, Australia and Kolkata, India.ResultsT...
Background The optimal corticosteroid regimen for treating the presenting episode of steroid-sens... more Background The optimal corticosteroid regimen for treating the presenting episode of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) remains uncertain. Most UK centres use an 8-week regimen, despite previous systematic reviews indicating that longer regimens reduce the risk of relapse and frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS). Objectives The primary objective was to determine whether or not an extended 16-week course of prednisolone increases the time to first relapse. The secondary objectives were to compare the relapse rate, FRNS and steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS) rates, requirement for alternative immunosuppressive agents and corticosteroid-related adverse events (AEs), including adverse behaviour and costs. Design Randomised double-blind parallel-group placebo-controlled trial, including a cost-effectiveness analysis. Setting One hundred and twenty-five UK paediatric departments. Participants Two hundred and thirty-seven children presenting with a first episode...
ObjectiveTo determine whether extending initial prednisolone treatment from eight to 16 weeks in ... more ObjectiveTo determine whether extending initial prednisolone treatment from eight to 16 weeks in children with idiopathic steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome improves the pattern of disease relapse.DesignDouble blind, parallel group, phase III randomised placebo controlled trial, including a cost effectiveness analysis.Setting125 UK National Health Service district general hospitals and tertiary paediatric nephrology centres.Participants237 children aged 1-14 years with a first episode of steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome.InterventionsChildren were randomised to receive an extended 16 week course of prednisolone (total dose 3150 mg/m2) or a standard eight week course of prednisolone (total dose 2240 mg/m2). The drug was supplied as 5 mg tablets alongside matching placebo so that participants in both groups received the same number of tablets at any time point in the study. A minimisation algorithm ensured balanced treatment allocation by ethnicity (South Asian, white, or other) ...
Objective: To determine the feasibility and short-term efficacy of caregiver-directed constraint-... more Objective: To determine the feasibility and short-term efficacy of caregiver-directed constraint-induced movement therapy to improve upper limb function in young children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Design: Randomized controlled trial with masked assessment. Setting: Community paediatric therapy services. Subjects: Pre-school children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Interventions: Caregiver-directed constraint-induced movement therapy administered using either 24-hour short-arm restraint device (prolonged) or intermittent holding restraint during therapy (manual). Main measures: Primary measures include Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) at 10 weeks. Secondary measures include adverse events, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. Feasibility measures include recruitment, retention, data completeness and adherence. Results: About 62/81 (72%) of eligible patients in 16 centres were randomized (prolonged restraint n = 30; manual restraint n = ...
Extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal may have a role in treatment of patients with hype... more Extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal may have a role in treatment of patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure and refractory hypoxaemia and/or hypercapnia. We report on the use, outcomes and complications in United Kingdom intensive care units reporting patients on the Extracorporal Life Support Organisation register. Of 60 patients, 42 (70%) had primarily hypoxic respiratory failure and 18 (30%) primarily hypercapnic respiratory failure. Use of veno-venous procedures increased compared to arterio-venous procedures. Following extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal, ventilatory and blood gas parameters improved at 24 h. Twenty-seven (45%) of patients died before ICU discharge, while 27 (45%) of patients were discharged alive. The most common complications related to thrombosis or haemorrhage. There is limited use of extracorporeal membrane carbon dioxide removal in UK clinical practice and outcomes reflect variability in indications and the technology used. Usa...
The Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) questionnaire is a widely used, generic instru... more The Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) questionnaire is a widely used, generic instrument designed for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL); however, it is not preference-based and therefore not suitable for cost-utility analysis. The Child Health Utility Index-9 Dimension (CHU-9D), however, is a preference-based instrument that has been primarily developed to support cost-utility analysis. This paper presents a method for estimating CHU-9D index scores from responses to the PedsQL™ using data from a randomised controlled trial of prednisolone therapy for treatment of childhood corticosteroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. HRQoL data were collected from children at randomisation, week 16, and months 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48. Observations on children aged 5 years and older were pooled across all data collection timepoints and were then randomised into an estimation (n = 279) and validation (n = 284) sample. A number of models were developed using the estimation da...
IntroductionLess than 1% of children have complex medical conditions but account for one-third of... more IntroductionLess than 1% of children have complex medical conditions but account for one-third of all child health spending. The impact of suboptimal management of this group of children can have a considerable effect on families as well as services. Some families appear to cope more easily than others do, but there are compelling reasons to suggest that effective interventions may improve family coping and ultimately outcomes. Hospitalisation of their child presents a unique set of pressures and challenges for parents, but also an opportunity to intervene. However, the evidence is not well described in relation to this group of families. The primary objective of this scoping review is to identify parent and family-based interventions available to improve parental health, well-being, functioning or skills in the context of a child’s medically complex hospital admission and hospital care.Methods and analysisNine bibliographic databases will be searched spanning medicine, nursing, psy...
Journal of health services research & policy, 2017
Objectives To explore paediatric nurses' experiences and perspectives of their role in the me... more Objectives To explore paediatric nurses' experiences and perspectives of their role in the medication process and how this role is enacted in everyday practice. Methods A qualitative case study on a general surgical ward of a paediatric hospital in England, one year prior to the planned implementation of ePrescribing. Three focus groups and six individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving 24 nurses. Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymized and subjected to thematic analysis. Results Two overarching analytical themes were identified: the centrality of risk management in nurses' role in the medication process and the distributed nature of nurses' medication risk management practices. Nurses' contribution to medication safety was seen as an intrinsic feature of a role that extended beyond just preparing and administering medications as prescribed and placed nurses at the heart of a dynamic set of interactions, practices...
The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Jan 13, 2017
Adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) should be provided to individuals considered to be at high risk o... more Adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) should be provided to individuals considered to be at high risk of anaphylaxis. There is some evidence that the rate of AAI prescription is increasing, but the true extent has not been previously quantified. To estimate the trends in annual GP-issued prescriptions for AAI among UK children between 2000 and 2012. Retrospective cohort study using data from primary care practices that contributed to The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Children and young people aged between 0-17 years of age with a prescription for AAIs were identified, and annual AAI device prescription rates were estimated using Stata (version 12). A total of 1.06 million UK children were identified, providing 5.1 million person years of follow-up data. Overall, 23 837 children were deemed high risk by their GPs, and were prescribed 98 737 AAI devices. This equates to 4.67 children (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.66 to 4.69), and 19.4 (95% CI = 19.2 to 19.5) devices per 10...
The mortality associated with liver disease continues to increase, despite the improvements imple... more The mortality associated with liver disease continues to increase, despite the improvements implemented in the UK healthcare as does the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), given the escalating prevalence of obesity. The currently available methods to assess and monitor the stage of liver disease present several limitations. Recently, multiparametric MRI has been developed to address these limitations. The aim of this study is to develop a decision analytic model for patients with suspected NAFLD, to investigate the effect of adding multiparametric MRI to the diagnostic pathway. The model takes the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS) as the service provider. A simple decision-tree model was developed to compare the costs associated with 3 diagnostic pathways for NAFLD that use non-invasive techniques. First, using transient elastography alone; second, using multiparametric MRI as an adjunct to transient elastography and third, multiparametric MRI...
The incidence and prevalence of allergies worldwide has been increasing and allergy services glob... more The incidence and prevalence of allergies worldwide has been increasing and allergy services globally are unable to keep up with this increase in demand. This systematic review aims to understand the delivery of allergy services worldwide, challenges faced and future directions for service delivery. A systematic scoping review of Ovid, EMBASE, HMIC, CINAHL, Cochrane, DARE, NHS EED and INAHTA databases was carried out using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data on the geographical region, study design and treatment pathways described were collected, and the findings were narratively reported. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. 205 publications were screened and 27 selected for review. Only 3 were prospective studies, and none included a control group. There were no eligible publications identified from North America, Africa, Australia and most parts of Asia. Most publications relate to allergy s...
There is increasing evidence that electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) or computerised provider/... more There is increasing evidence that electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) or computerised provider/physician order entry (CPOE) systems can improve the quality and safety of healthcare services. However, it has also become clear that their implementation is not straightforward and may create unintended or undesired consequences once in use. In this context, qualitative approaches have been particularly useful and their interpretative synthesis could make an important and timely contribution to the field. This review will aim to identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative studies on ePrescribing/CPOE in hospital settings, with or without clinical decision support. Data sources will include the following bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, MEDLINE In Process, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Social Policy and Practice via Ovid, CINAHL via EBSCO, The Cochrane Library (CDSR, DARE and CENTRAL databases), Nursing and Allied Health Sources, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts via ProQuest and SCOPU...
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Feb 1, 2007
The aim was to develop a tool that measures patient dependency and disease severity in children w... more The aim was to develop a tool that measures patient dependency and disease severity in children with mild to severe liver disease. The initial pilot score was based on known markers of disease severity in acute and chronic liver disease. Between 1997 and 2001, the score was modified 4 times and reduced to comprise 10 key parameters: aspartate transaminase, prothrombin time, albumin, bilirubin, ascites, nutritional support, organ dysfunction, blood product support, sepsis and intravenous access. The score's face validity, internal consistency, interobserver agreement and construct validity were evaluated statistically and by the use of endpoints such as survival and transplant after 6 months. The final 10 variable score was tested on 71 children admitted over two 3-month periods. The Cronbach's alpha score (a test for internal consistency) for the total score was 0.72. Serial data paralleled clinical deterioration and response to interventions. A Paediatric Hepatology Dependency score >15 had an odds ratio of 7 (P = 0.0125) for death or transplant at 6 months. The score was also found to agree with the paediatric end-stage liver disease score for the 12 patients being listed for liver transplantation (r = 0.660, P < 0.05). The Paediatric Hepatology Dependency score is valid and internally consistent and is a convenient measure of dependency and disease severity in a heterogeneous group of patients with liver disease. It also allows admissions to be audited for comparison between eras and for monitoring the progress of patients while on the ward.
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Papers by Carole Cummins