IntroductionPaediatric sepsis is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Assessing concern from parents and healthcare professionals to determine disease severity in a child evaluated for sepsis remains a field requiring further investigation. This study aims to determine the diagnostic accuracy of parental and healthcare professional concern in the diagnosis of children evaluated for sepsis.Methods and analysisThis prospective multicentre observational study will be conducted over a 24-month period in the paediatric emergency department (ED) at two tertiary Australian hospitals. A cross-sectional survey design will be used to assess the level of concern in parents, nurses and doctors for children presenting to ED and undergoing assessment for sepsis. The primary outcome is a diagnosis of sepsis, defined as suspected infection plus organ dysfunction at time of survey completion. Secondary outcomes include suspected or proven infection and development of organ dysfunction, defined as a Paediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score >0, within 48 hours of presentation, paediatric intensive care unit admission, confirmed or probable bacterial infection independent of organ dysfunction, and hospital length of stay.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from Children’s Health Queensland’s Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/17/QRCH/85). Findings will be shared with relevant stakeholders and disseminated via conferences and peer-reviewed journalsTrial registration numberWHO Universal Trial Number, U1111-1256-4537; ANZCTR number, ACTRN1262000134092.

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ObjectiveThe Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends systematic screening for sepsis. Although many sepsis screening tools include parent or healthcare professional concern, there remains a lack of evidence to support this practice. We aimed to test the diagnostic accuracy of parent and healthcare professional concern in relation to illness severity, to diagnose sepsis in children.DesignThis prospective multicenter study measured the level of concern for illness severity as perceived by the parent, treating nurse and doctor using a cross-sectional survey. The primary outcome was sepsis, defined as a pSOFA score >0. The unadjusted area under receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUC) and adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) were calculated.SettingTwo specialised pediatric Emergency Departments in QueenslandPatientsChildren aged 30 days to 18 years old that were evaluated for sepsisInterventionNoneMain Results492 children were included in the study, of which 118 (23.9%) had sepsis. Parent concern was not associated with sepsis (AUC 0.53, 95% CI: 0.46–0.61, aOR: 1.18; 0.89–1.58) but was for PICU admission (OR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.17–3.19) and bacterial infection (aOR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.14–1.92). Healthcare professional concern was associated with sepsis in both unadjusted and adjusted models (nurses: AUC 0.57, 95% CI-0.50, 0.63, aOR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02–1.63; doctors: AUC 0.63, 95% CI: 0.55, 0.70, aOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.14–2.19).ConclusionsWhile our study does not support the broad use of parent or healthcare professional concern in isolation as a pediatric sepsis screening tool, measures of concern may be valuable as an adjunct in combination with other clinical data to support sepsis recognition.Clinical Trial RegistrationACTRN12620001340921.

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