Workstream 2b - Child factors associated with variation in outcome

There are many factors that can affect how good an outcome a child has after an operation. Some of these are to do with the way the operation was performed (e.g. whether it was performed key-hole or open), and some are to do with the child themselves, (e.g. whether they were very sick when the operation was performed). It is important to understand what these 'child' factors are, because without doing so, it will not be possible to understand whether outcomes are better in one hospital than another because of the way they perform their operations, or because the children they treated were less sick at the time of the operation. By conducting a systematic review of the existing literature, workstream 2b is designed to identify what these child factors are.