The COVID‐19 Pandemic and Changes in Healthcare Utilization for Pediatric Respiratory and Nonrespiratory Illnesses in the United States

The impact of COVID‐19 public health interventions on pediatric illnesses nationwide is unknown. We performed a multicenter, cross‐sectional study of encounters at 44 children's hospitals in the United States to assess changes in healthcare utilization during the pandemic. The COVID‐19 pandemic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hospital medicine 2021-05, Vol.16 (5), p.294-297
Main Authors: Antoon, James W, Williams, Derek J, Thurm, Cary, Bendel‐Stenzel, Michael, Spaulding, Alicen B, II, Ronald J Teufel, Reyes, Mario A, Shah, Samir S, Kenyon, Chén C, Hersh, Adam L, Florin, Todd A, Grijalva, Carlos G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Age Factors
Brief Report
Child
Child, Preschool
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Female
Health services utilization
Hospitals, Pediatric - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Infant
Male
Pandemics
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Pediatrics
Respiratory diseases
Respiratory Tract Diseases - epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:The impact of COVID‐19 public health interventions on pediatric illnesses nationwide is unknown. We performed a multicenter, cross‐sectional study of encounters at 44 children's hospitals in the United States to assess changes in healthcare utilization during the pandemic. The COVID‐19 pandemic was associated with substantial reductions in encounters for respiratory diseases; these large reductions were consistent across illness subgroups. Although encounters for nonrespiratory diseases decreased as well, reductions were more modest and varied by age. Encounters for respiratory diseases among adolescents declined to a lesser degree and returned to previous levels faster compared with those of younger children. Further study is needed to determine the contributions of decreased illness and changes in care‐seeking behavior to this observed reduction.
ISSN:1553-5592
1553-5606
DOI:10.12788/jhm.3608