BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The use of Pediatric Early Warning Scores is becoming widespread to identify and rapidly respond to patients with deteriorating conditions. The ability of Pediatric Early Warning Scores to identify children at high risk of deterioration or death has not, however, been established in resource-limited settings. METHODS: We developed the Pediatric Early Warning Score for Resource-Limited Settings (PEWS-RL) on the basis of expert opinion and existing scores. The PEWS-RL was derived from 6 equally weighted variables, producing a cumulative score of 0 to 6. We then conducted a case-control study of admissions to the pediatrics department of the main public referral hospital in Kigali, Rwanda between November 2016 and March 2017. We defined case patients as children fulfilling the criteria for clinical deterioration, who were then matched with controls of the same age and hospital ward. RESULTS: During the study period, 627 children were admitted, from whom we selected 79 case patients and 79 controls. For a PEWS-RL of ≥3, sensitivity was 96.2%, and specificity was 87.3% for identifying patients at risk for clinical deterioration. A total PEWS-RL of ≥3 was associated with a substantially increased risk of clinical deterioration (odds ratio 129.3; 95% confidence interval 38.8–431.6; P <.005). CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that the PEWS-RL, a simple score based on vital signs, mental status, and presence of respiratory distress, was feasible to implement in a resource-limited setting and was able to identify children at risk for clinical deterioration.

Introduction Improved teamwork and communication have been associated with improved quality of care. Early Warning Scores (EWS) and rapid response algorithms are a way of identifying deteriorating patients and providing a common framework for communication and response between physicians and nurses. The impact of EWS implementation on interprofessional collaboration (IPC) has been minimally studied, especially in resource-limited settings. Methods The study took place in the Pediatric Department of the main academic referral hospital in Rwanda between April 2019 and January 2020. Pediatric nurses and residents were trained on the use of the Pediatric Warning Score for Resource-Limited Settings (PEWS-RL) and a rapid response algorithm. Training included vital sign collection, PEWS-RL calculation, IPC and rapid response algorithm implementation. Prior to training, participants completed surveys on IPC with Likert scale responses (from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”). Follow-up surveys were then administered nine months later and also included an open-response question on the impact of the PEWS-RL implementation on IPC. Results Sixty-five (96%) nurses were trained and completed the pre-survey and thirty-seven (54%) of the trained nurses completed the post-survey. Twenty-two (59%) pediatric residents were trained in the workshop and completed the pre-survey and twenty-four physicians (4 pediatricians (40%) and 20 pediatric residents (53%)) completed the post-implementation survey. There was a statistically significant increase in the percent of nurses indicating strong agreement across all domains of communication and collaboration from the pre- to the post-survey. Although the percent of physicians indicating strong agreement increased in the post-survey for all items, only the “share information” item was statistically significant. Conclusion Training and implementation of a PEWS-RL and a rapid response algorithm at a tertiary hospital in Rwanda resulted in significant improvement of nurse and physician ratings of IPC nine months later.