OBJECTIVE: Most interventions in paediatric critical care lack high grade evidence. We aimed to identify the key research priorities and key clinical outcome measures pertinent to research in paediatric intensive care patients. DESIGN: Modified three-stage Delphi study combining staged online surveys, followed by a face-to-face discussion and final voting. SETTING: Paediatric intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: Medical and nursing staff working in intensive care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported priorities for research. RESULTS: 193 respondents provided a total of 267 research questions and 234 outcomes. In Stage 3, the top 56 research questions and 50 outcomes were discussed face to face, which allowed the identification of the top 20 research questions with the Hanlon prioritisation score and the top 20 outcomes. Topics centred on the use of intravenous fluids (restrictive v liberal fluids, use of fluid resuscitation bolus, early inotrope use, type of intravenous fluid, and assessment of fluid responsiveness), and patient- and family-centred outcomes (health-related quality of life, liberation) emerged as priorities. While mortality, length of stay, and organ support/organ dysfunction were considered important and the most feasible outcomes, long term quality of life and neurodevelopmental measures were rated highly in terms of their importance. CONCLUSIONS: Using a modified Delphi method, this study provides guidance towards prioritisation of research topics in paediatric critical care in Australia and New Zealand, and identifies study outcomes of key relevance to clinicians and experts in the field.

BACKGROUND: Persistent psychological distress occurs frequently in family members of patients who die in an intensive care unit (ICU). OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of bereavement interventions in reducing persisting psychological distress in bereaved family members after death in an adult ICU. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that assessed the effect of bereavement interventions on persisting psychological distress in bereaved family members of ICU patients. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE and APA Psycinfo databases were searched until April 2020. REVIEW METHODS: Two of us independently screened titles and abstracts of identified studies, and then completed full text evaluation of selected studies. We assessed risk of bias using version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, which is designed to assess the quality of non-randomised studies in meta-analyses. We also used random effects meta-analysis to assess the effect of various interventions on total Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores. RESULTS: From 664 citations, five studies were included — three multicentre randomised clinical trials and two single centre observational studies. Three studies tested the intervention of written bereavement support materials and two studies used narration of family members' experiences in the ICU. All studies reported HADS scores. Scores for Impact of Event Scale, Impact of Event Scale–Revised and Inventory of Complicated Grief were measured in some but not all studies. There was no effect of an intervention on HADS scores (weighted mean difference, −0.79 [95% confidence interval, −3.81 to 2.23]; Ι2 = 65.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Owing to limited data, and clinical and statistical heterogeneity, there is considerable uncertainty regarding whether bereavement support strategies reduce, increase or have no effect on psychological distress in bereaved family members.