The COVID-19 Pandemic Dramatically Reduced Admissions of Children with and Without Chronic Conditions to General Paediatric Wards

Overview

Journal Acta Paediatr

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2021 Feb 4

PMID 33539565

Citations 13

Authors

Rachel Gavish

Yoel Levinsky

Yotam Dizitzer

Efraim Bilavsky

Gilat Livni

Avinoam Pirogovsky

Oded Scheuerman

Irit Krause

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aim: We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on how many children were admitted to Israel's largest tertiary paediatric hospital and why they were admitted.

Methods: Israel declared COVID-19 a national emergency on 19 March 2020. This study examined daily hospital admissions to our three general paediatric wards during the COVID-19 lockdown period from 20 March to 18 April 2020. These 258 admissions were compared with the 4217 admissions from the period immediately before this, 1 February to 19 March 2020, plus 1 February to 18 April in 2018 and 2019. We also compared why patients were admitted during the study period, and any pre-existing conditions, with 638 children hospitalised during the same period in 2019.

Results: The mean number of daily hospitalisations during the COVID-19 lockdown period was 8.6, which was 59% lower than the 20.9 recorded during the other three periods before COVID-19. There was a significant decrease in the number of patients admitted with infectious (74%) and non-infectious (44%) aetiologies from 2019 to 2020, and these occurred among patients with (58%), and without (55%), pre-existing medical conditions.

Conclusion: The Israeli COVID-19 lockdown had a dramatic effect on admissions to the paediatric wards of a tertiary hospital.

Citing Articles

Non-COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a longitudinal assessment of 41 million people in 2019-2022.

Razimoghadam M, Yaseri M, Rezaee M, Fazaeli A, Daroudi R BMC Public Health. 2024; 24(1):380.

PMID: 38317148 PMC: 10840276. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17819-0.

Severe Respiratory Disease Among Children With and Without Medical Complexity During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Belza C, Pullenayegum E, Nelson K, Aoyama K, Fu L, Buchanan F JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(11):e2343318.

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How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect inpatient care for children in Germany? An exploratory analysis based on national hospital discharge data.

Panteli D, Mauer N, Tille F, Nimptsch U BMC Health Serv Res. 2023; 23(1):938.

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COVID-19 in Western Australia: 'The last straw' and hopes for a 'new normal' for parents of children with long-term conditions.

Smith S, Tallon M, Smith J, Jones L, Morelius E Health Expect. 2023; 26(5):1863-1873.

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The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patient Admissions to the Developmental Pediatrics Unit: An Outpatient Clinic in Eastern Turkey.

Karaca Ahat T, Yilmaz Gencer T, Guven Baysal S, Metin Baz H, Durak U, Kortay Canaloglu S Turk Arch Pediatr. 2023; 58(1):62-67.

PMID: 36598213 PMC: 9885809. DOI: 10.5152/TurkArchPediatr.2022.22200.

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