Telephone surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic: Is it a helpful diagnostic tool for detecting acute pulmonary exacerbations in children with chronic lung disease?

INTRODUCTION: The global burden of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease pandemic on the healthcare system, as well as the high transmission risk of coronavirus disease has led to the use of alternative strategies for evaluation of children with chronic conditions. In this context, telemedicine has become the effective and affordable choice. In this study we aimed to evaluate the efficiency of telephone visits to determine pulmonary exacerbations and hospitalization rates of children with cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease. METHODS: A total of 119 children with cystic fibrosis or interstitial lung disease were enrolled and provided cases in which telephone visits were applied during the peak time of the coronavirus disease pandemic in our country. The recordings of respiratory, gastrointestinal and other symptoms, nutrition status, rate of acute pulmonary exacerbation, treatments initiated by telephone visits, referral to hospital and hospitalization were established from the electronic health reports of the patients. RESULTS: Thirteen patients (10.9%) were symptomatic, 12 of them (10%) were diagnosed with acute pulmonary exacerbation. One patient was diagnosed with peripheral facial paralysis. Nine patients were recalled to the hospital and seven patients (5.8%) were hospitalised. DISCUSSION: Using telemedicine the health status of patients can be defined, and patients can be guided on proper healthcare that they need, especially during the times of pandemics which we are facing. Communication with patients while minimising the risk of exposure to coronavirus disease is an important advantage of telemedicine. Telemedicine will have to be implemented on our daily medical practice in the near future.

Impact of COVID-19 on pediatric pulmonology healthcare practice.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is typically spread by droplets and has had a remarkable effect on pediatric pulmonology healthcare practice. Here, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical follow-up and hospital visits of patients followed up at a pediatric pulmonology unit at a tertiary care center. METHODS: This study was an observational descriptive study performed at a tertiary care center pediatric pulmonology unit between January 2019 and December 2020. We analyzed the outpatient visits, laboratory procedures which including pulmonary function tests (PFTs), diffusion capacity assessment, plethysmography, and lung clearance index (LCI), high-speed video microscopy, gastric aspirate sampling, and Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB) during clinical follow-up, and hospitalization numbers of patients with chronic lung diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared them with the previous year before the pandemic started. RESULTS: In 2020, compared with 2019, outpatient visits decreased by 42.2%; from 8324 patients to 4804 patients and other laboratory procedures decreased after the pandemic started; PFTs including spirometry by 87.2%; from 2990 to 380 tests, diffusion capacity assessment from 172 to 55 tests, plethysmography from 172 to 53 and LCI from 70 to 9 tests, also high-speed video microscopy analyses by 64.3% from 300 to 107 patients, and gastric aspirate sampling by 75.5% from 42 to 9 patients. FFB procedures also decreased by 59.1%, from 142 to 58 patients, and only 15 were after the first reported case of COVID-19 in our country, and they were all for urgent indications. None of these patients was positive pretesting for COVID-19 who underwent the FFB. There was no significant decrease in patients' hospitalization due to pulmonary exacerbation in cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, and primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Psychiatric and general health effects of COVID-19 pandemic on children with chronic lung disease and parents' coping styles.

BACKGROUND: We aim to assess the anxiety and depressive symptoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic in children with chronic lung disease and their parents and also to evaluate parents' coping strategies. METHODS: Parents of children aged 4-18 years, with chronic lung disease (study group n = 113) and healthy control (n = 108) were enrolled in the study. General Health Questionnaire-12, specific COVID-19 related anxiety questions, The Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory, coronavirus-related psychiatric symptom scale in children-parental form were used to analyze the psychiatric effects of COVID-19. Parents were also asked about how online education affected their family life and children. All data were compared between children/parents in the study and control groups. Risk factors related with anxiety scores of children were also analyzed. RESULTS: Talking about the pandemic, concern about coronavirus transmission, taking precaution to prevent coronavirus transmission, making pressure to protect from COVID-19 were significantly higher in parents within the study group (p < .05). Parents in the study group used more problem-focused coping than parents in the control group (p = .003). Anxiety symptoms score was higher in children of the study group (p = .007). Parents in the study group found online education more useful than parents in the control group. CONCLUSION: Children with chronic lung diseases and their parents have more anxiety due to COVID-19 pandemic and these parents use more mature coping strategies to manage the stress of the pandemic. Longitudinal and larger studies should be done in all aspects of online education in children with chronic lung diseases.