Choosing Wisely: An initiative promoting rational and high-value care based on the recommendations of the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP)

Czech version

Authors: Sabina Dzurická ¹; Veronika Pokorná ²
Authors‘ workplace: Klinika pediatrie a dědičných, poruch metabolismu, 1. lékařská fakulta, Univerzita Karlova, Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice, v Praze ¹; Dětská klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec, Králové, Lékařská fakulta, v Hradci Králové, Univerzita Karlova ²
Published in: Čes-slov Pediat 2026; 81 (1): 13-16.
Category: Journal Articles
doi: https://doi.org/10.55095/CSPediatrie2026/001

Overview

Choosing Wisely initiative, launched in 2012, is an international physician-led movement promoting rational, safe, and patient-centred healthcare. Its aim is to reduce the overuse of diagnostic tests, procedures, and treatments that often do not lead to better outcomes and may be burdensome or even harmful. Current data suggest that approximately 20–30% of healthcare provides no real benefit to patients. The call to reconsider certain routine practices has also extended to paediatrics, where this philosophy carries particular importance given the vulnerability of the paediatric population.

This article presents the development of the initiative with an emphasis on the paediatric field and illustrates how the early American and Canadian lists gradually shaped the emerging European agenda. Following the finding that more than 80% of European paediatricians perceive overuse of care as a significant problem, the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) published the first European set of paediatric recommendations in 2023 (the Choosing Wisely Top 10 List). Four of the ten recommendations address the overuse of antibiotics, while others highlight, for example, the inappropriate treatment of cough in children or gastroesophageal reflux in infants. This publication opens a series of expert communications that will discuss individual recommendations from the Choosing Wisely Top 10 List and their relevance for Czech paediatrics.

Keywords:

paediatrics – Quality of care – Choosing wisely – overtreatment – patient-centred care – EAP

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