Pediatric postintensive care syndrome: high burden and a gap in evaluation tools for limited-resource settings

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care medicine
• Child health outcomes
• Long-term sequelae of critical illness

Background:

• Pediatric postintensive care syndrome (PICS-p) presents a substantial burden on children's physical, mental, cognitive, and social health.
• The long-term effects of PICS-p can persist for decades, impacting survivors' quality of life.
• Current evaluation tools for PICS-p are often limited, particularly in resource-constrained settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize the impact and burden of PICS-p across multiple health domains.
• To identify limitations of existing PICS-p evaluation tools in resource-limited settings.
• To advocate for the development of a novel, simple, and comprehensive surveillance tool for early PICS-p detection and intervention.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of pediatric literature in MEDLINE and PubMed.
• Analysis of the impact of PICS-p on physical, mental, cognitive, and social health.
• Evaluation of the applicability and limitations of current PICS-p assessment tools.

Main Results:

• PICS-p has a profound and lasting impact on pediatric survivors.
• Existing validated tools for PICS-p assessment are often impractical due to time, expertise, age limitations, and domain specificity.
• There is a critical need for improved, accessible PICS-p surveillance methods.

Conclusions:

• A simple, comprehensive surveillance tool is needed for early PICS-p detection and intervention.
• Further research is required to validate and refine parameters for improved outcomes in pediatric intensive care unit survivors.
• Addressing PICS-p is crucial for enhancing long-term well-being in pediatric critical care survivors.