TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing the quality of health care in the management of bronchiolitis in Australian children
T2 - A population-based sample survey
AU - Homaira, Nusrat
AU - Wiles, Louise K.
AU - Gardner, Claire
AU - Molloy, Charlotte J.
AU - Arnolda, Gaston
AU - Ting, Hsuen P.
AU - Hibbert, Peter Damian
AU - Braithwaite, Jeffrey
AU - Jaffe, Adam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Author(s).
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Background Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of respiratory hospitalisation in children aged <2 years. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) suggest only supportive management of bronchiolitis. However, the availability of CPGs do not guarantee that they are used appropriately and marked variation in the clinical management exists. We conducted an assessment of guideline adherence in the management of bronchiolitis in children at a subnationally representative level including inpatient and ambulatory services in Australia. Methods We searched for national and international CPGs relating to management of bronchiolitis in children and identified 16 recommendations which were formatted into 40 medical record audit indicator questions. A retrospective medical record review assessing compliance with the CPGs was conducted across three types of healthcare setting: hospital inpatient admissions, emergency department (ED) presentations and general practice (GP) consultations in three Australian states for children aged <2 years receiving care in 2012 and 2013. Results Purpose-trained surveyors conducted 13 979 eligible indicator assessments across 796 visits for bronchiolitis at 119 sites. Guideline adherence for management of bronchiolitis was 77.3% (95% CI 72.6 to 81.5) for children attending EDs, 81.6% (95% CI 78.0 to 84.9) for inpatients and 52.3% (95% CI 44.8 to 59.7) for children attending GP consultations. While adherence to some individual indicators was high, overall adherence to documentation of 10 indicators relating to history taking and examination was poorest and estimated at 2.7% (95% CI 1.5 to 4.4). Conclusions The study is the first to assess guideline-adherence in both hospital (ED and inpatient) and GP settings. Our study demonstrated that while the quality of care for bronchiolitis was generally adherent to CPG indicators, specific aspects of management were deficient, especially documentation of history taking.
AB - Background Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of respiratory hospitalisation in children aged <2 years. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) suggest only supportive management of bronchiolitis. However, the availability of CPGs do not guarantee that they are used appropriately and marked variation in the clinical management exists. We conducted an assessment of guideline adherence in the management of bronchiolitis in children at a subnationally representative level including inpatient and ambulatory services in Australia. Methods We searched for national and international CPGs relating to management of bronchiolitis in children and identified 16 recommendations which were formatted into 40 medical record audit indicator questions. A retrospective medical record review assessing compliance with the CPGs was conducted across three types of healthcare setting: hospital inpatient admissions, emergency department (ED) presentations and general practice (GP) consultations in three Australian states for children aged <2 years receiving care in 2012 and 2013. Results Purpose-trained surveyors conducted 13 979 eligible indicator assessments across 796 visits for bronchiolitis at 119 sites. Guideline adherence for management of bronchiolitis was 77.3% (95% CI 72.6 to 81.5) for children attending EDs, 81.6% (95% CI 78.0 to 84.9) for inpatients and 52.3% (95% CI 44.8 to 59.7) for children attending GP consultations. While adherence to some individual indicators was high, overall adherence to documentation of 10 indicators relating to history taking and examination was poorest and estimated at 2.7% (95% CI 1.5 to 4.4). Conclusions The study is the first to assess guideline-adherence in both hospital (ED and inpatient) and GP settings. Our study demonstrated that while the quality of care for bronchiolitis was generally adherent to CPG indicators, specific aspects of management were deficient, especially documentation of history taking.
KW - clinical practice guidelines
KW - compliance
KW - quality measurement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063950624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjqs-2018-009028
DO - 10.1136/bmjqs-2018-009028
M3 - Article
C2 - 30940731
AN - SCOPUS:85063950624
SN - 2044-5415
VL - 28
SP - 817
EP - 825
JO - BMJ Quality and Safety
JF - BMJ Quality and Safety
IS - 10
ER -