Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34399731›Full record

Observational studyBMC pediatrics2021

Associations between study questionnaire-assessed need and school doctor-evaluated benefit of routine health checks: an observational study.

Kirsi Nikander, Elina Hermanson, Tero Vahlberg, Minna Kaila, Tuire Sannisto, Silja Kosola

Registry-linked trialAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC pediatrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03178331 (Who Benefit From School Doctors' Health Checks), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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.

NCT03178331 completednot on this map

Who Benefit From School Doctors' Health Checks: a Prospective Study of a Screening Method in Finland

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorUniversity of HelsinkiRan2017 to 2023Enrolled1,013ConditionsSchool Health ServicesArmsStudy questionnaires
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Observational
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

6 authors.

Kirsi NikanderCity of Helsinki, Department of Social Services and Health Care, School and Student Health Care, P.O. Box 6100, FI-00099, Helsinki, Finland. kirsi.nikander@iki.fi.ORCID 0000-0002-8196-5167
Elina HermansonPikkujätti Medical Center for Children and Youth, Annankatu 32, 00100, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-7873-8924
Tero VahlbergFaculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Biostatistics, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, FI-20520, Turku, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-4935-3056
Minna KailaUniversity of Helsinki, Public Health Medicine, P.O. Box 63, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-9645-4925
Tuire SannistoCity of Tampere, Social and Health Care Services, Services for Children, Youth and Families, Naulakatu 2, FI-33101, Tampere, Finland.
Silja KosolaPediatric Research Center, New Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, HUS, P.O. Box 705, Biomedicum 2 C, FI-00029, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-2881-8299

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn Finland, school doctors examine all children at predetermined ages in addition to annual health checks by school nurses. This study explored the association of study questionnaire-assessed need for and school doctor-evaluated benefit of routine health checks conducted by doctors.

methodsBetween August 2017 and August 2018, we recruited a random sample of 1341 children in grades 1 and 5 (aged seven and eleven years, respectively) from 21 elementary schools in four Finnish municipalities. Children mainly studying in special education groups or whose parents needed an interpreter were excluded. School nurses performed their health check as usual. Parents, nurses, and teachers then completed study questionnaires that assessed the concerns of parents, school nurses, and teachers regarding each child's physical, mental and social health. Doctors, blinded to the responses, routinely examined all the children. The primary outcome measures were (1) the need for a health check based on the study questionnaires and (2) the benefit/harm of the appointment as estimated by the doctors according to predetermined criteria, and (3) the patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) of benefit/harm of the appointment as estimated by the parents and children. We compared the need for a health check with the doctor-evaluated benefit using multilevel logistic regression.

resultsThe participation rate was 75.5 %. According to all questionnaires, 20-25 % of the 1013 children had no need for a health check. The doctors regarded 410 (40.6 %) and the parents 812 (83.4 %) of the appointments as being beneficial. Respondents rarely reported harm. The children who were classified as needing a health check more often benefitted from the health check (assessed by the doctor) than children with no need for one (OR 3.53; 95 % CI 2.41-5.17).

conclusionsThe need for a health check is an important predictor of school-doctor evaluated benefit of the health check. This approach could allow school doctors to allocate time for the children who need them most.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier NCT03178331, registration June 6th 2017.

Indexed as

PhysiciansSchoolsAllied Health PersonnelChildHumansParentsSchool Health ServicesSurveys and QuestionnairesChildrenHealth checkQuestionnairesSchool doctorSchool health services

Identifiers

PMID34399731
PMCPMC8365945

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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.