| Title: |
Quality Assessment Indicators for Well-Child Care in Primary Health Care: A Scoping Review of Global Trends, Standardization, and Dimensions of Care |
| Authors: |
Priscila Ribas de Farias Costa; Márcia Oliseski; Rita de Cássia Ribeiro-Silva; Ana Zaira da Silva; Rejane Queiroz; Carlos Lira; Izabele Lôbo; Elzo Pinto Júnior; Galba Freire Moita; Maria del Pilar Quispe; Maria Yury Ichihara; Rafael Barros; Carl Kendall; Ítalo Aguiar; Anya Vieira-Meyer; Rosa Livia Freitas de Almeida; Márcia Machado; Lígia Kerr |
| Source: |
Children ; Volume 13 ; Issue 3 ; Pages: 382 |
| Publisher Information: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
| Subject Terms: |
child health; comprehensive health care; family-centered care; health information systems; health services assessment; primary health care; quality indicators; well-child care |
| Description: |
Background/Objectives: Well-child care plays a critical role in promoting child health and monitoring growth and development within Primary Health Care (PHC), in line with international frameworks such as the WHO Global Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the absence of standardized quality indicators limits comparability across studies and hinders continuous improvement worldwide. This study aimed to map and analyze the indicators used to assess the quality of well-child care in global PHC settings. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute methodological guidance, with a pre-registered protocol. Comprehensive searches were performed in May 2025 across fourteen databases and two gray literature sources, without language or time restrictions. Eligible studies assessed quality indicators for well-child care among children up to 5 years, 11 months, and 29 days. Two independent reviewers performed study selection and data extraction. Results: From 6052 records, 62 studies met inclusion criteria. Out of them, most (68%) used composite indicators, primarily from pre-existing tools (67%). While structural and clinical indicators—such as immunization and service accessibility—were predominant, there was a critical absence of relational indicators focusing on patient–provider interaction. This lack of standardization and neglect of the relational dimension significantly hinders international comparability and the assessment of family-centered care quality. Conclusions: Developing and validating a core set of standardized, comprehensive, and context-sensitive indicators integrating structural, clinical, and relational dimensions is essential. These should be linked to information systems to enable robust national and international comparison, strengthen evidence-based management, and drive continuous quality improvement to achieve the 2030 Agenda goals. These findings provide a foundation for policymakers to develop standardized monitoring ... |
| Document Type: |
text |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children13030382 |
| DOI: |
10.3390/children13030382 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.3390/children13030382 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.96EBDBCC |
| Database: |
BASE |