COVID-19 hospitalizations in children in the Autonomous Province of Trento (Northern Italy), year 2020.
Epidemiol Prev
; 45(6): 528-532, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1836181
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
hospitalization rate of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection can be considered as an indicator of severe COVID-19 burden. In children, however, hospital admissions may overestimate such burden.OBJECTIVES:
to describe the hospitalizations with COVID-19-related discharge diagnoses in the population <18 years of age in the 545,000 inhabitants of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige Region, North-Eastern Italy) in year 2020.DESIGN:
hospitalization characteristics and main and secondary discharge diagnosis codes were abstracted from anonymous hospital discharge records in all cases with at least one COVID-19-specific ICD-9-CM code. SETTING ANDPARTICIPANTS:
hospitalized patients 0-17 and >=18 years of age. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
in-hospital deaths, median length of stay and cost, frequency of main discharge diagnoses.RESULTS:
from March to December 2020, 61 admissions with COVID-19-specific codes regarded patients 0-17 years and 3,811 patients >=18 years. No in-hospital deaths were observed in the younger group. Median hospital stay was not significantly different in the two groups, but cost was higher among patients >=18 years. In adult patients, more than 70% had a pneumonia or other lung or respiratory disease main discharge diagnosis; in children, they were only 6.5%. Almost half of the children admitted with SARS-CoV-2 infection had a main discharge diagnosis of either trauma or encounter with the health system for procedures and aftercare (ICD-9-CM V-codes).CONCLUSIONS:
in the Province of Trento, a considerable proportion of hospitalizations of young patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection may be due to other underlying conditions requiring hospital care, supporting the hypothesis that hospitalization rate might overestimate the burden of serious COVID-19 in children.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Epidemiol Prev
Journal subject:
Epidemiology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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