Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39799248›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2025

Results from the PROmoting Early Childhood Outside cluster randomized trial evaluating an outdoor play intervention in early childhood education centres.

Rachel Ramsden, Dawn Mount, Yingyi Lin, Emily Fox, Susan Herrington, Janet Loebach, Adina Cox, Anita Bundy, Amber Fyfe-Johnson, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter and 3 more

Abstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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.

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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

13 authors.

Rachel RamsdenDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, F508 - 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada.
Dawn MountDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, F508 - 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada.
Yingyi LinIndependent consultant, Seattle, WA, USA.
Emily FoxDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, F508 - 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada.
Susan HerringtonSchool of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Janet LoebachDepartment of Design + Environmental Analysis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Adina CoxDepartment of Landscape Architecture, Iowa State University College of Design, Ames, IA, USA.
Anita BundyDepartment of Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Amber Fyfe-JohnsonInstitute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH), Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Seattle, WA, USA.
Ellen Beate Hansen SandseterDepartment of Physical Activity and Health, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Trondheim, Norway.
Michelle StoneSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Mark S TremblayHealthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Mariana BrussoniDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, F508 - 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada. mbrussoni@bcchr.ubc.ca.

Funding

Lawson Foundation GRT 2020-137
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Participation in outdoor play is beneficial for the health, well-being, and development of children. Early childhood education centers (ECECs) can provide equitable access to outdoor play. The PROmoting Early Childhood Outside (PRO-ECO) study is a pilot randomized trial that evaluates the PRO-ECO intervention on children's outdoor play participation. The PRO-ECO intervention included four components: ECEC outdoor play policy; educator training; ECEC outdoor space modification; and parent engagement. This study included eight ECECs delivering licensed care to children (n = 217) aged 2.5 to 6 years in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Using a wait-list control cluster randomized trial design, ECECs were randomly allocated to either the intervention arm (n = 4) or the wait-list control arm (n = 4). Change in the proportion and diversity of observed outdoor play behaviour during scheduled outdoor time was measured. Outcome data were collected at baseline, 6-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up. The intervention effect on children's outdoor play participation was examined using logistic regression mixed effect models. Controlling for gender, weather and temperature, there were no changes in children's outdoor play participation following implementation of the PRO-ECO intervention in the between-group analysis. Within-group comparisons also revealed no change in play participation following the PRO-ECO intervention, however, the intervention group showed a positive effect (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 0.97, 1.70) in play participation 6 months after implementation of the intervention. The findings indicate that further analyses on child- and ECEC-level outcomes collected as part of the PRO-ECO study, including the diversity of children's play, is required to effectively assess the impact of this intervention.

Indexed as

Child Day Care CentersPlay and PlaythingsBritish ColumbiaChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMale

Identifiers

PMID39799248
PMCPMC11724985

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.