ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2026
Perspectives of paediatricians on developmental surveillance and screening in a low- to middle-income country: a qualitative study.
Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionEarly childhood development (ECD) is a critical global and public health issue. Worldwide, paediatricians serve as the primary point of contact between children and the healthcare system, playing a key role in promoting healthy development through routine developmental surveillance (DS) and screening (DSc). However, there is limited research on paediatricians' perspectives regarding this matter, particularly in low-resource communities and countries such as Lebanon. This study aimed to explore the paediatricians' perspectives on the current routine DS and DSc practices for children under 5 years of age.
methodsPaediatricians from all five Lebanese governorates were invited to participate using purpose and convenience sampling. A total of five academic and eleven non-academic paediatricians were included in the study. Semi-structured face-to-face or online interviews were conducted in Arabic between September 2018 and August 2021. Interviews were audio-recorded, then transcribed verbatim and translated into English and thematically analysed using Quirkos V.2.5.3 software.
resultsThe study revealed significant variation regarding the understanding of concepts of routine DS and DSc. Most non-academic paediatricians primarily focused on physical development, while academic paediatricians were more attuned to cognitive and psychosocial development, with variation in practice. Factors influencing the practice were multi-layered: paediatricians, parents, paediatrician-parent interaction and system level.
conclusionDS and DSc practices in Lebanon are inconsistent, often incomplete and not systematically integrated into routine paediatric care. Efforts should be made to raise awareness about their importance, the appropriate methods for conducting them, and address the system-level factors by developing national guidelines for ECD. Data on paediatricians' practices in other similar low-resource countries or communities is needed to understand the common problems and have joint efforts to address them globally.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.