Trends in Well-Child Visits and Routine Vaccination among Children of U.S. Military Members: An Evaluation of the COVID-19 Pandemic Effects

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted administration of healthcare including well-child visits and routine vaccinations. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic disruption on childhood health maintenance: well-child visits and scheduled vaccinations. We qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical medicine 2022-11, Vol.11 (22), p.6842
Main Authors: Sexton, Kyle, Susi, Apryl, Lee, Elizabeth, Hisle-Gorman, Elizabeth, Rajnik, Michael, Krishnamurthy, Jayasree, Nylund, Cade M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Armed forces
Beneficiaries
Child care
Children & youth
Clinical medicine
Coronaviruses
COVID-19 vaccines
Demographics
Disease transmission
Enrollments
Families & family life
Health care
Health services utilization
Hepatitis
Immunization
Influenza
Pandemics
Parents & parenting
Pediatrics
Socioeconomic factors
Variables
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted administration of healthcare including well-child visits and routine vaccinations. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic disruption on childhood health maintenance: well-child visits and scheduled vaccinations. We queried the TRICARE Management Activity's Military Health System (MHS) database for outpatient well-child visits and vaccinations for all children 0 to 23 months of age eligible for TRICARE healthcare. The median rate of well-child visits, during the COVID-19 period (March 2020-July 2021), was significantly declined for all demographic groups: all ages, parental military ranks, sex, and regions as compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (February 2019-February 2020). Similar to rates of well-child visits, the rate of vaccinations declined during the COVID-19 period as compared to the pre-COVID-19 period for all demographic groups, except children 12-23 months. Rates of well-child visits for military dependent children under 2 years of age were decreased during the 16 month COVID-19 period, with large increases seen in the first 2 months of the pandemic; the consequences of missed well-child visits and vaccination are unknown.
ISSN:2077-0383
2077-0383
DOI:10.3390/jcm11226842