Development of a set of quality indicators in paediatric and perinatal care in Japan with a modified Delphi method.

BACKGROUNDS: Few paediatric and perinatal quality indicators (QIs) have been developed in the Japanese setting, and the quality of care is not assured or validated. The aim of this study was to develop QIs in paediatric and perinatal care in Japan using an administrative database and confirm the feasibility and applicability of the indicators using a single-site practice test. METHODS: We used a RAND-modified Delphi method that integrates evidence review with expert consensus development. QI candidates were generated from clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) available in English or Japanese and existing QIs in nine selected paediatric or perinatal conditions. Consensus building was based on independent panel ratings. The performance of QIs was retrospectively assessed using data from an administrative database at the National Children's Hospital. Data between April 2018 and March 2019 were used, while data between April 2019 and March 2021 were also used for selected condition, considering the small number of patients. Each QI was calculated as follows: number of times the indicator was met/number of participants×100. RESULTS: From the literature review conducted between 2010 and 2020, 124 CPGs and 193 existing indicators were identified to generate QI candidates. Through the consensus-building process, 133 QI candidates were assessed and 79 QIs were accepted. The practice test revealed wide variations in the process-level performance of QIs in four categories: patient safety: median 43.9% (IQR 16.7%-85.6%), general paediatrics: median 98.8% (IQR 84.2%-100%), advanced paediatrics: median 94.4% (IQR 46.0%-100%) and advanced obstetrics: median 80.3% (IQR 59.6%-100%). CONCLUSIONS: We established 79 QIs for paediatric and perinatal care in Japan using an administrative database that can be applied to hospitals nationwide. The practice test confirmed the measurability of the developed QIs. Benchmarking these QIs will be an attractive approach to improving the quality of care.

Secondary cancers among children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated by the Tokyo Children's Cancer Study Group protocols: a retrospective cohort study.

With improvement in survival, it is important to evaluate the impact of treatment on secondary cancers in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) survivors. A retrospective cohort study comprising 2918 children diagnosed with ALL and enrolled on Tokyo Children's Cancer Study Group (TCCSG) protocols between 1984 and 2005 was conducted to evaluate the incidence of secondary cancers and associated factors including treatment protocol, cranial irradiation and other characteristics of the primary ALL. Thirty-seven patients developed secondary cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia (n = 11), myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 5), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 2), brain tumours (n = 13) and other solid carcinomas (n = 6) within a median follow-up duration of 9·5 years. The cumulative incidence of any secondary cancers was 1·0% (95% confidence interval (CI), 0·7-1·4%) at 10 years and 2·4% (95% CI, 1·5-3·7%) at 20 years, respectively. Standardized incidence rate ratio of secondary cancers was 9·3 (95% CI, 6·5-12·8). Multivariate analyses showed an increased risk of secondary cancers associated with the recent treatment protocol and cranial irradiation. There was no evidence of a reduction in secondary cancer incidence despite marked decreases in cranial irradiation use in the recent protocols.