Impact of COVID-19 on Admissions and Outcomes for Children With Complex Chronic Conditions.
Hosp Pediatr
; 12(4): 337-353, 2022 04 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1731627
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although pediatric health care use declined during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the impact on children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) has not been well reported.OBJECTIVE:
To describe the impact of the pandemic on inpatient use and outcomes for children with CCCs.METHODS:
This multicenter cross-sectional study used data from the Pediatric Health Information System. We examined trends in admissions between January 2020 through March 2021, comparing them to the same timeframe in the previous 3 years (pre-COVID-19). We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the association of the COVID-19 period and outcomes for children with CCCs presenting between March 16, 2020 to March 15, 2021 (COVID-19 period) to the same timeframe in the previous 3 years (pre-COVID-19).RESULTS:
Children with CCCs experienced a 19.5% overall decline in admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Declines began in the second week of March of 2020, reaching a nadir in early April 2020. Changes in admissions varied over time and by admission indication. Children with CCCs hospitalized for pneumonia and bronchiolitis experienced overall declines in admissions of 49.7% to 57.7%, whereas children with CCCs hospitalized for diabetes experienced overall increases in admissions of 21.2%. Total and index length of stay, costs, and ICU use, although statistically higher during the COVID-19 period, were similar overall to the pre-COVID-19 period.CONCLUSIONS:
Total admissions for children with CCCs declined nearly 20% during the pandemic. Among prevalent conditions, the greatest declines were observed for children with CCCs hospitalized with respiratory illnesses. Despite declines in admissions, overall hospital-level outcomes remained similar.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Hosp Pediatr
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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