The Need for a Standard Outcome for Clinical Deterioration in Children's Hospitals.

Abstract

Unrecognized clinical deterioration is a common and significant source of preventable harm to hospitalized children. Yet, unlike other sources of preventable harm, clinical deterioration outside of the ICU lacks a clear, "gold standard" outcome to guide prevention efforts. This gap limits multicenter learning, which is crucial for identifying effective and generalizable interventions for harm prevention. In fact, to date, no coordinated safety/quality initiative currently exists targeting prevention of harm from unrecognized clinical deterioration in hospitalized pediatric patients, which is startling given the morbidity and mortality risk patients incur. In this article, we compare existing outcomes for evaluating clinical deterioration outside of the ICU, highlighting sources of variation and vulnerability. The broader aim of this article is to highlight the need for a standard, consensus outcome for evaluating clinical deterioration outside of the ICU, which is a critical first step to preventing this type of harm.