COVID-19 in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review

Background: Considering the chronic immunosuppression in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients, it is necessary to evaluate the course of COVID-19 in these patients. Studies have shown various results in adult IBD patients. This study aimed to find out the course of this infection in pediatric IBD patients. Methods: This was a systematic review study according to the PRISMA 2020 guideline. International databases including Scopus, PubMed, and the Web of Science were searched with a combination of "COVID-19" AND "IBD" or synonyms until October 16, 2021. Studies that have reported the outcomes of COVID-19 infection in patients less than 19 years of age were selected. Name of author, country, study duration and type, IBD type and drugs, and COVID-19 outcomes were extracted. Results: From the initially retrieved 2215 articles, finally 16 articles were eligible. Data from 1040 pediatric IBD patients were reported. Twenty-four patients were hospitalized, 5 developed patients multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, and others had a mild disease course and were outpatient. Steroid use, severe IBD activity, and comorbidities were shown to increase risk of hospitalization and disease severity. Conclusions: COVID-19 is a benign and self-limited disease in pediatric IBD patients. Comorbidities, steroid use, and severe IBD activity affect the outcomes.

Physical Activity of Iranian Children during the Pandemic of Covid-19

Background: During the two years of COVID-19 lockdown and its related restrictions, the level of physical activity has decreased among children. Considering the adverse effects of insufficient physical activity (PA) on the health of children and adolescents, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the level of physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic among children and adolescents aged 8-19 years, in Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 16,500 urban and rural students 8-19 year -old from 31 provinces across the country, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Multistage sampling was used to select the participants. Data was gathered in January 2022 using the Persian version of the PA Questionnaire (PAQ) for older children and adolescents, based on the WHO -Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) questionnaire.Results: 14893 cases were included in the study. The result of this study showed that more than half of the participants had a medium level of PA, and 32.5 had a low level of PA and only 12.6% of the participants had a high level of PA. Males and those in the age group of 14 to 19 years had significantly higher levels of PA (P<0.05). The regression analysis showed that for a one-year increase in age, the PA score would decrease by 0.256 times (p=0.000). The mean PAQ score was significantly higher among children whose parents did not have a health-related occupation or were unemployed.Conclusion: Although the finding of this study showed controversial results considering the decrease in children's PA scores during the COVID-19 pandemic, it demonstrated a low PA level among Iranian children in general.