Access to Healthcare for Children and Adolescents with a Chronic Health Condition during the COVID-19 Pandemic: First Results from the KICK-COVID Study in Germany.
Children (Basel)
; 10(1)2022 Dec 21.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2230429
ABSTRACT
This study examines the access to healthcare for children and adolescents with three common chronic diseases (type-1 diabetes (T1D), obesity, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)) within the 4th (Delta), 5th (Omicron), and beginning of the 6th (Omicron) wave (June 2021 until July 2022) of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany in a cross-sectional study using three national patient registries. A paper-and-pencil questionnaire was given to parents of pediatric patients (<21 years) during the routine check-ups. The questionnaire contains self-constructed items assessing the frequency of healthcare appointments and cancellations, remote healthcare, and satisfaction with healthcare. In total, 905 parents participated in the T1D-sample, 175 in the obesity-sample, and 786 in the JIA-sample. In general, satisfaction with healthcare (scale 0−10; 10 reflecting the highest satisfaction) was quite high (median values T1D 10, JIA 10, obesity 8.5). The proportion of children and adolescents with canceled appointments was relatively small (T1D 14.1%, JIA 11.1%, obesity 20%), with a median of 1 missed appointment, respectively. Only a few parents (T1D 8.6%; obesity 13.1%; JIA 5%) reported obstacles regarding health services during the pandemic. To conclude, it seems that access to healthcare was largely preserved for children and adolescents with chronic health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Variants
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Children10010010
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