Discerning the age of a child

Paramedic practice requires consideration of the changing social, psychological and communication needs of patients throughout their lives. For children, these needs may be associated with developmental milestones and they may require different communication methods and assessment tools to evaluate symptoms such as pain. When considering treatment options, the age of the child may be used as a surrogate for body weight when calculating drug dosages, providing therapeutic safety and efficacy. This is evidenced by paramedic clinical practice guidelines that typically separate adults and children by their specific needs. However, there are conflicting age cut-off points that mark the transition from child to adult.

Children develop at different rates physically, mentally and emotionally. Therefore, when determining how old a child is, chronological age cannot be used in isolation (British Medical Association (BMA), 2016). To further complicate the issue, the legal definition of a child must also be considered.

The definition of a child is typically prescribed by laws, with the legal definition influenced by prevailing cultural, social and religious norms. Therefore, it is understandable that not only will different countries use varying age ranges to define a child, but variation may also exist within different jurisdictions. The aim of this comment is to highlight the disparity of age ranges used to define a child and discuss its implications for researchers and clinicians.