Impact of the COVID-19 era on preventative primary care for children 0 –5 years old: a scoping review protocol

The objective of this scoping review is to characterise the utilisation of preventative primary care and its association with child development for children ages 0 –5 years old during the COVID-19 era. In addition, we will determine if specific groups of children are at greater risk for reduced access to care.MethodsA systematic search will be conducted for studies published between March 11, 2020, and October 2023 in the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Cochrane Library (CENTRAL and CDSR), Web of Science, and CINAHL (EBSCOhost). This scoping review will follow the methodological framework developed by Arksey and O ’Malley and updated by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Studies related to primary preventative care of children aged 0–5 years old conducted in English and in high-income countries will be screened. Studies published before March 11, 2020, in acute care and low–middle-income settings will be excluded. Results will be summarised for appointments attended, delayed, and missed. In addition, we will summarise findings on the impact of COVID-19 on child development. Findings will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.DiscussionFurther investigation is required to better understand the relationship between attendance of preventative primary care for children and its effects on child development. The findings obtained from this re...
Source: Systematic Reviews - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research