Number and timing of primary cleft lip and palate repair surgeries in England: whole nation study of electronic health records before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BMJ Open
; 13(6): e071973, 2023 06 13.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-20235334
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To quantify differences in number and timing of first primary cleft lip and palate (CLP) repair procedures during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021; 2020/2021) compared with the preceding year (1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020; 2019/2021).DESIGN:
National observational study of administrative hospital data.SETTING:
National Health Service hospitals in England. STUDY POPULATION Children <5 years undergoing primary repair for an orofacial cleft Population Consensus and Surveys Classification of Interventions and Procedures-fourth revisions (OPCS-4) codes F031, F291). MAIN EXPOSURE Procedure date (2020/2021 vs 2019/2020). MAINOUTCOMES:
Numbers and timing (age in months) of first primary CLP procedures.RESULTS:
1716 CLP primary repair procedures were included in the analysis. In 2020/2021, 774 CLP procedures were carried out compared with 942 in 2019/2020, a reduction of 17.8% (95% CI 9.5% to 25.4%). The reduction varied over time in 2020/2021, with no surgeries at all during the first 2 months (April and May 2020). Compared with 2019/2020, first primary lip repair procedures performed in 2020/2021 were delayed by 1.6 months on average (95% CI 0.9 to 2.2 months). Delays in primary palate repairs were smaller on average but varied across the nine geographical regions.CONCLUSION:
There were significant reductions in the number and delays in timing of first primary CLP repair procedures in England during the first year of the pandemic, which may affect long-term outcomes.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cleft Lip
/
Cleft Palate
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2023-071973
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS