Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39773799›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Developing an adaptive paediatric intensive care unit platform trial with key stakeholders: a qualitative study.

Tracy Karen Mitchell, Julie C Menzies, Padmanabhan Ramnarayan, Doug William Gould, Elizabeth Deja, Shelley Marsh, Jennifer Ainsworth, Jennifer Preston, Hannah Sedgwick, Carly Tibbins and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The Paediatric Intensive Care Adaptive Platform Trial (PIVOTAL): Turning Pediatric Critical Care Practice Into Clinical Research.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2026
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Current Consent Models Perpetuate Ignorance in Pediatric Critical Care.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Tracy Karen MitchellPublic Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK Tracy.Mitchell@Liverpool.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0014-8016
Julie C MenziesPaediatric Intensive Care Unit, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2080-3364
Padmanabhan RamnarayanDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Doug William GouldIntensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4148-3312
Elizabeth DejaInstitute of Population Health, Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Shelley MarshPatient and Public Partner, London, UK.
Jennifer AinsworthGenerationR Liverpool Young Person's Advisory Group, Alder Hey Children's Hospital Clinical Research Facility, Liverpool, UK.
Jennifer PrestonGenerationR Liverpool Young Person's Advisory Group, Alder Hey Children's Hospital Clinical Research Facility, Liverpool, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4800-234X
Hannah SedgwickIntensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, London, UK.
Carly TibbinsNIHR Clinical Research Network West Midlands, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.
Paul R MounceyIntensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8510-8517
Mark J PetersNIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust, London, UK.
Kerry WoolfallInstitute of Population Health, Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesPlatform trials were used successfully in adult populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. By testing multiple treatments within a single trial, platform trials can help identify the most effective treatments (and any interactions between treatments) for patients more quickly and with less burden for patients and their families. The aim of this qualitative research was to inform the design of the first adaptive platform trial for paediatric intensive care in the UK with young people, parents/carers and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) staff.

designQualitative semistructured focus group study. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

participantsYoung people, parents/carers, and PICU medical, nursing and research staff.

settingThe UK.

resultsA total of 86 participants (18 young people; 15 parents/carers; 53 PICU staff) took part in 1 of 10 focus groups between May and September 2023. Participants viewed the proposed PICU platform trial and use of research without prior consent to be acceptable. Findings provide insight into how the PICU platform trial should be designed and operationalised, including having a broad and inclusive population eligible for inclusion onto the platform trial, with different inclusion and exclusion criteria for each domain; starting the trial with no more than three domains and prioritising the outcomes of

conclusionsYoung people, parents/carers and PICU staff viewed the proposed PICU platform trial to be acceptable. These key stakeholders supported us with the design of an adaptive platform trial for PICU that has a rigorous methodology, yet can be operationalised in a family-centred way, to provide high-quality evidence that can support clinical decision-making and guide the treatment of critically ill children. Our findings have informed the PICU platform trial protocol.

Indexed as

COVID-19Focus GroupsIntensive Care Units, PediatricQualitative ResearchAdaptive Clinical Trials as TopicAdolescentAdultChildFemaleHumansMaleParentsResearch DesignSARS-CoV-2United KingdomAdolescentClinical TrialPaediatric intensive & critical carePAEDIATRICSQUALITATIVE RESEARCHRandomized Controlled Trial

Identifiers

PMID39773799
PMCPMC11749188

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.