Smartphone use for Paediatric Calculations in Emergencies (SPaCE)

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
• Clinical Pharmacology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Pediatric emergency drug and fluid calculations often use the WETFLAG acronym.
• Smartphone applications are increasingly utilized in clinical practice for these calculations.
• Limited research exists on the accuracy and safety of these apps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of a smartphone app, reference charts, and traditional methods for pediatric emergency drug and fluid calculations.
• To assess the impact on calculation time and self-reported stress levels.

Main Methods:

• Healthcare professionals calculated doses for fictional pediatric cases using three methods: smartphone app, reference charts, and traditional calculations.
• Study recorded calculation errors, time taken, and self-reported stress levels.
• A convenience sample of 96 participants from four hospitals was utilized, with randomized case order.

Main Results:

• Traditional methods had a significantly higher error rate (mean=1) compared to the smartphone app (mean=0) and reference charts (mean=0).
• The smartphone app was significantly faster and resulted in lower self-reported stress levels than both traditional methods and reference charts.
• A total of 576 calculations were performed across six fictional cases.

Conclusions:

• Traditional WETFLAG calculations are associated with a higher risk of errors compared to reference charts and smartphone apps.
• Smartphone applications offer a faster and less stressful alternative for pediatric emergency dose and fluid calculations.
• The study supports the adoption of digital tools for improving accuracy and efficiency in pediatric critical care.