The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is updating its guideline on Maternal and Child Nutrition, expected to be published in 2024. As part of the guideline development, an economic analysis is being conducted, to assess the value for money of education and support interventions that promote breastfeeding. To support this work and ensure that recommendations made are relevant to the current clinical landscape, committees need to see the economic analysis being populated with the most recent rates of three common infections in infants under one year of age (as there is evidence that rates for these infections at this age are reduced with increasing breastfeeding rates).
This work will look at the General Practice (GP) records of babies under one year of age and measure the number of new cases of three common infections to provide a rate for each of these. The three infections considered are: gastro-intestinal (GI) infections, which are infections affecting the stomach and digestive system, lower respiratory tract infections (RTI), which affect the breathing system, and otitis media, which are middle ear infections. For each of these conditions, we will measure the number of new cases every year from 2010-2022 to understand how this is changing over time.
Measuring these infection rates and using them to populate the Maternal and Child Nutrition Guideline economic analysis will help the NICE committee reviewing the guideline to formulate public health recommendations in the care of babies.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is updating its guideline on Maternal and Child Nutrition, expected to be published in 2024. As part of the guideline development, an economic analysis is being conducted, to assess the cost-effectiveness of education and support interventions that promote breastfeeding. To support this work and ensure that recommendations made are relevant to the current clinical landscape, committees need to see the economic analysis being populated with the most recent data on the incidence of three common infections in infants under one year of age (as there is evidence that rates for these infections at this age are reduced with increasing breastfeeding rates).
A retrospective observational cohort study will be conducted using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum UK primary care database. We will measure incidence rates for three common infections: acute otitis media, lower respiratory tract infections, and gastrointestinal infections. For each of these conditions, annual incidence rates will be calculated between 2010 – 2022, to understand how these are changing over time. For each year, incidence will be calculated using the number of events divided by the total contributing person-time in years. This will be reported per 100,000 person-years.
These incidence rates will be used to provide accurate and up-to-date information to populate the Maternal and Child Nutrition guideline economic analysis, the results of which will be considered by the NICE committee when formulating recommendations. This will ensure that resulting recommendations are relevant to the current UK clinical setting and improve standards of care for infants.
Incidence of gastro-intestinal infections in infants under one; incidence of lower respiratory tract infections in infants under one; incidence of acute otitis media infections in infants under one
Jonathan Wray - Chief Investigator - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - NICE
Eleanor Yelland - Corresponding Applicant - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - NICE
Eleanor Yelland - Collaborator - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - NICE