Table 1 Population-concept-context

Population

Healthy children between the ages of 0–5 years old will be included. Children born premature or living with complex chronic conditions will be excluded from this review, as well as research conducted outside of high-income countries.

Concept

Literature reporting on the frequency/rate and main reasons for preventative primary care visit delays during the COVID-19 pandemic will be reviewed. Literature reporting on outcomes related to developmental concerns (such as speech/language delay and identification of autism spectrum disorder) will be included.

Context

The time frame is from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 11, 2020) onwards. The context will be focused on primary care settings as defined as care delivered in clinics, community health centres, ambulatory settings, virtual care, urgent care, mobile clinics, schools, and at-home visits. Primary care providers include family physicians, general paediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and registered nurses. We will be focusing on access to preventative care and on the impacts of identifying developmental concerns. Given the diversity of primary care systems across the globe, we will attempt to minimise heterogeneity by examining research conducted in high-income countries only.