Acute health care use among children during the first 2.5 years of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The effects of the decline in health care use at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of children are unclear. We sought to estimate changes in rates of severe and potentially preventable health outcomes among children during the pandemic.

Methods

We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study of children aged 0-17 years using linked population health administrative and disease registry data from January 2017 through August 2022 in Ontario, Canada. We compared observed rates of emergency department visits and hospital admissions during the pandemic to predicted rates based on the 3 years preceding the pandemic. We evaluated outcomes among children and neonates overall, among children with chronic health conditions and among children with specific diseas

SUBMITTER: Iskander C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802996 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature