Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40228889›Full record

ArticleCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2025

Prevalence and management of symptom diagnoses in children in general practice.

Asma Chaabouni, Juul Houwen, Reinier Akkermans, Iris Walraven, Kees van Boven, Henk Schers, Tim C. olde Hartman

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Article in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026
    Article
  3. Correction.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Asma ChaabouniFormer GP and a PhD student in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Juul HouwenGP and researcher in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center.
Reinier AkkermansMethodologist in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences and in the IQ Health Science Department at Radboud University Medical Center.
Iris WalravenEpidemiologist in the Department for Health Evidence in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center.
Kees van BovenGPs and Senior Researchers in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center.
Henk SchersGP and Senior Researcher in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center.
Tim C. olde HartmanGPs and Senior Researchers in the Department of Primary and Community Care in the Radboud Institute of Health Sciences at Radboud University Medical Center.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo explore the prevalence of symptom diagnoses in children in general practice and the management strategies performed by GPs.

designRetrospective cohort study.

settingThe Netherlands.

participantsParticipant data registered in a Dutch practice-based primary care research network (Family Medicine Network [FaMe-Net]).

main outcome measuresAll episodes of care with at least 1 contact for a symptom diagnosis in 2018 as well as management strategies within each episode of care including the number and type of diagnostic interventions, therapeutic interventions, and referrals.

resultsOverall, 6162 children under 15 years of age and registered with GP practices were included in the cohort. Among them, 2767 (44.9%) had at least 1 contact with their GP for at least 1 symptom diagnosis, and 161 (2.6%) had at least 1 persistent symptom diagnosis. Constipation, wheezing, and weakness were the most commonly found persistent symptoms. For persistent symptom diagnoses, GPs indicated more therapeutic interventions (n=217, 40.1%) compared to diagnostic interventions (n=175, 32.3%) or referrals (n=149, 27.6%).

conclusionSymptom diagnoses are highly prevalent in children in general practice. Future research should focus on which children are at risk of developing persistent symptom diagnoses and how to manage them.

Indexed as

General PracticePractice Patterns, Physicians'Symptom AssessmentAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleNetherlandsPrevalencePrimary Health CareReferral and ConsultationRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID40228889
PMCPMC12007628

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.