Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25247401›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Why children with severe bacterial infection die: a population-based study of determinants and consequences of suboptimal care with a special emphasis on methodological issues.

Elise Launay, Christèle Gras-Le Guen, Alain Martinot, Rémy Assathiany, Elise Martin, Thomas Blanchais, Catherine Deneux-Tharaux, Jean-Christophe Rozé, Martin Chalumeau

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. International survey on immunological diagnostics in children with sepsis.Intensive care medicine. Paediatric and neonatal · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Elise LaunayCHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Clinique médicale pédiatrique, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France; Inserm U1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
Christèle Gras-Le GuenCHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Clinique médicale pédiatrique, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France; CHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Urgences pédiatriques, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France.
Alain MartinotCHU de Lille, Hôpital R. Salengro, Unité d'urgences pédiatriques et de maladies infectieuses, Université de Lille-Nord de France, Lille, France.
Rémy AssathianyAssociation pour le Recherche et l'Enseignement en Pédiatrie Générale (AREPEGE); Association Française de Pédiatrie Ambulatoire (AFPA), Cabinet de Pédiatrie, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
Elise MartinCHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Clinique médicale pédiatrique, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France.
Thomas BlanchaisCHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Clinique médicale pédiatrique, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France.
Catherine Deneux-TharauxInserm U1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
Jean-Christophe RozéCHU Nantes, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Réanimation pédiatrique et néonatale, Faculté de médecine de Nantes, Nantes, France.
Martin ChalumeauInserm U1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Paris Descartes University, Paris, France; Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, AP-HP, Service de pédiatrie générale, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSuboptimal care is frequent in the management of severe bacterial infection. We aimed to evaluate the consequences of suboptimal care in the early management of severe bacterial infection in children and study the determinants.

methodsA previously reported population-based confidential enquiry included all children (3 months- 16 years) who died of severe bacterial infection in a French area during a 7-year period. Here, we compared the optimality of the management of these cases to that of pediatric patients who survived a severe bacterial infection during the same period for 6 types of care: seeking medical care by parents, evaluation of sepsis signs and detection of severe disease by a physician, timing and dosage of antibiotic therapy, and timing and dosage of saline bolus. Two independent experts blinded to outcome and final diagnosis evaluated the optimality of these care types. The effect of suboptimal care on survival was analyzed by a logistic regression adjusted on confounding factors identified by a causal diagram. Determinants of suboptimal care were analyzed by multivariate multilevel logistic regression.

resultsSuboptimal care was significantly more frequent during early management of the 21 children who died as compared with the 93 survivors: 24% vs 13% (p = 0.003). The most frequent suboptimal care types were delay to seek medical care (20%), under-evaluation of severity by the physician (20%) and delayed antibiotic therapy (24%). Young age (under 1 year) was independently associated with higher risk of suboptimal care, whereas being under the care of a paediatric emergency specialist or a mobile medical unit as compared with a general practitioner was associated with reduced risk.

conclusionsSuboptimal care in the early management of severe bacterial infection had a global independent negative effect on survival. Suboptimal care may be avoided by better training of primary care physicians in the specifics of pediatric medicine.

Indexed as

Disease ManagementAdolescentBacterial InfectionsChildChild, PreschoolFemaleFranceHumansInfantLogistic ModelsMaleQuality of Health CareRisk FactorsSeverity of Illness Index

Identifiers

PMID25247401
PMCPMC4172434

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.