Journal Article

8272 Raising awareness of Kawasaki disease among doctors in paediatrics: a regional pilot

Wooding, Eva, Harty, Megan, Lugg Rosie

2025

Overview

Why did you do this work?Kawasaki disease (KD) is the leading cause of acquired childhood cardiac disease, increasing four-fold over the past decade in the UK.1 It remains perceivably rare, contributing to delayed diagnosis: 7.8 days from symptom onset on average, where best cardiac outcomes necessitate treatment <7 days. Non-specific symptoms and lack of definitive biomarkers further compounds diagnostic delay.2 Only 30% present <1 year old, yet this group carries nearly double the risk of aneurysms.3 Our programme aimed to raise awareness of KD among the paediatric resident workforce.What did you do?A regional training programme on KD was developed, using real case examples provided by Societi, the UK foundation for KD, and the literature aiming to create interactive, case-based sessions which would raise awareness amongst clinicians about KD.4 The cases were chosen as they identified important knowledge gaps or learning from patient morbidity aiming to improve clinician knowledge so that KD is considered earlier and more seriously in the patient journey. The programme was piloted at one Trust in a face-to-face format, with participants ranging from Foundation doctors to Consultants. Feedback was elicited from all participants via LearnLoop and free-text feedback was analysed thematically. Following feedback, the session was refined and expanded regionally via video-link to multiple hospitals. Feedback was used to understand what participants learned with a view to adapting session content and structure to enhance this in future.What did you find?Sessions were attended by resident doctors ranging from Foundation doctors to Consultant. Participants self-identified their take-home learning which included the need for early recognition to prevent poor cardiac outcomes, awareness of the BCG sign and recognition of incomplete Kawasaki presentations, especially in older or younger children, who are more likely to be overlooked. The pilot session achieved a feedback score of 94.3/100, which increased to 95.3/100 following regional roll-out. Themes from free-text feedback included: the importance of recognising incomplete Kawasaki, awareness of epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, and the value of case-based learning. Participants reported feeling more confident in identifying KD following the sessions, but assessing change in practice and long-term retention were beyond the scope of this pilot.What does it mean?The training sessions were valued by participants and increased self-reported confidence in recognising KD among resident doctors in paediatrics. Participants expressed interest in expanding the programme into longer, face-to-face interactive sessions. This initiative contributes to raising awareness of KD and forms part of a larger body of work. Feedback suggests that a longer study day or regional workshop would have merit and meet an identified learning need, alongside formal evaluation of impact on knowledge retention and practice.ReferencesTulloh RMR, Mayon-White R, Harnden A, et al. Kawasaki disease: a prospective population survey in the UK and Ireland from 2013 to 2015 [published correction appears in Arch Dis Child. 2020 Mar;105(3):e5. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2018-315087corr1].Arch Dis Child. 2019;104(7):640–646. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2018-315087Harnden A, Tulloh R, Burgner D. Kawasaki disease.BMJ. 2014;349:g5336. Published 2014 Sep 17. doi:10.1136/bmj.g5336Brogan P, Burns JC, Cornish J, et al. Lifetime cardiovascular management of patients with previous Kawasaki disease.Heart. 2020;106(6):411–420. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315925Lertamornkitti N, Wangjirapan AA. 3-month-old infant with atypical Kawasaki disease. BMJ Case Rep. 2018;2018:bcr2017221456. Published 2018 May 30. doi:10.1136/bcr-2017-221456

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subject: Children / Consultants / Coronary artery disease / Epidemiology / Feedback / Heart diseases / Kawasaki disease / Learning / Medical treatment / Morbidity / Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome / Patients / Pediatrics / Physicians / Retention / Retention (Psychology) / Training