A systematic review about skin lesions in children affected by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (excluding multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children): study protocol

  1. Arianna Dondi
  2. Giacomo Sperti
  3. Davide Gori
  4. Marco Montalti
  5. Lorenza Parini
  6. Federica Guaraldi
  7. Marcello Lanari
  8. Iria Neri

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Abstract

COVID-19 disease can give a range of skin manifestations, some of which specific to children and young patients. Given the different nature of the lesions in specific stages of the disease and the fact that they may be the only or predominant symptom of the disease, it is of great importance for the pediatrician and dermatologist to be familiar with COVID-19 skin lesions. The aim of this systematic review, conducted according to the PRISMA statement, is to investigate COVID-19-associated cutaneous involvement in children in terms of type of skin lesions, frequency, and time of onset, with the exclusion of those associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. A comprehensive literature search will be performed through PubMed between December 2019 and December 2021. The quality of each study will be assessed according to the STROBE tool for observational studies. This systematic review will provide evidence about the dermatological manifestations of COVID-19 disease in children published up to the end of year 2021. Recognizing skin symptoms as potential manifestations of COVID-19 in children is important for a non-delayed diagnosis, with prompt activation of the adequate tracing, isolation, and hygienic measures, and for timely treatment of unlikely but possible serious complications.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.04.22271888: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    BlindingQuality Assessment: Two authors will independently and blindly assess the quality of the included studies using the “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology” (STROBE) tool for observational studies(6).
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Literature search will be performed on PubMed by using the following string for a thorough search: “(((SARS-CoV-2) OR (COVID19) OR (COVID-19) OR (ncov*) OR (coronavirus)) AND ((Child) OR (children) OR (pediatric) OR (paediatric) OR (infant) OR (adolescent)) AND ((“2019/12/31”[Date - Entry] : “2021/12/12”[Date - Entry]))”.
    PubMed
    suggested: (PubMed, RRID:SCR_004846)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2022.03.04.22271888v1 on medRxiv