Parents’ intuition more likely to predict child’s critical illness than checking vital signs, study finds

Parents should be treated as part of a child’s care team in the hospital, experts have said - (Getty/iStock)

A new study has found that parent intuition is more likely to predict critical illness than various vital signs used to measure health.

Experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, analysed data on almost 190,000 emergency hospital visits for children in Melbourne where parents or caregivers were routinely asked: “Are you worried your child is getting worse?”