Day care attendance during the first 12 months of life and occurrence of infectious morbidities and symptoms

The effect of infection prevention and control programme for childcare workers in daycare centres: A systematic review

PROBLEM

Infectious diseases can easily spread in daycare centres (DCCs), primarily due to inadequate hygiene practices of both childcare workers and children. Therefore, childcare workers who provide direct care in early childhood play a crucial role in preventing and controlling infectious diseases in DCCs. This systematic review aims to identify current evidence and examine the effect of the infection prevention and control (IPC) programme for childcare workers in daycare centres, and to obtain a pooled estimate of the intervention's effect using meta-analysis, if possible ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We searched literature through CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases, we also performed manual searches on Google Scholar and citation lists. Inclusion criteria comprised: 1) Experimental or quasi-experimental design studies that were published in the English language from October 1971 to December 2023, 2) Population focused on childcare workers responsible for early childhood in DCCs, 3) The intervention focused on the ICP programme, and 4) Outcomes related to childcare workers SAMPLE: From 3,964 articles, eight studies were included in this review RESULTS: Half of the total studies concentrated on hand hygiene intervention, while the remaining four addressed the prevention of infectious diseases and infection control. These studies reported an increase in knowledge, self-efficacy, and compliance regarding hand hygiene, and knowledge and practices related to infectious diseases. Two studies included nurses as conductors in the programme CONCLUSION: IPC programme effectively enhances some knowledge and performances in childcare workers IMPLICATION: Nurses can conduct IPC programme within daycare centres by utilizing evidence-based educational tools. Further research is needed to require well-reported studies, especially randomized controlled trials.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42023492592.

Childcare centre attendance and health, growth, and development among children aged 0-3 years in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Background

Lack of childcare for children aged 0-3 years has emerged as a global crisis, accentuated by women's increasing workforce participation and recognition that young children require nurturing care. Through this systematic review, we sought to examine associations between childcare centre attendance in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and children's health, growth, and development, and to generate childcare centre programmatic and research recommendations for children aged 0-3 years.

Methods

We systematically searched PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane for articles on centre-based childcare for children aged 0-3 years in LMICs, published between 2000 and 2021 in English (or which were translated into English). We excluded articles on specialised subgroups or interventions. We imported the retrieved articles into Covidence for review and assessed them for bias using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool.

Results

Twenty-two articles (24 studies) met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 36 927 children from 10 countries across Mexico and South America (n = 12), Africa (n = 5), and Asia (n = 5). Outcomes included health (n = 12), growth/nutrition (n = 6), and development (n = 6). Study quality assessments were low; 41% exceeded 50% of quality criteria and 45% adjusted for confounders. Associations between childcare attendance and outcome measures were primarily negative for health (n/N = 7/12) and positive for growth/nutrition (n/N = 5/6) and development (n/N = 4/6). Childcare centre programmatic recommendations for children aged 0-3 years included: age-specific policies; program quality, including safety, hygiene, nutrition, and curriculum; access and affordability; parent engagement; financial support; and workforce development. Research recommendations included: study design, including enrolment age, frequency, duration, childcare type, home and childcare sociodemographic and cultural environments, child and caregiver outcomes, and analytical approaches; longitudinal studies; and implementation research.

Conclusions

Rigorous primary research in global childcare for young children is urgently needed. Policies, programmes, and investments in high-quality childcare can promote nurturing care for young children, enabling mothers to participate in the workforce.

Registration

PROSPERO: CRD42018105576.