The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric asthma-related emergency department visits and hospital admissions in Montreal, Quebec: a retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that affects 10% of Canadian children and is often exacerbated by viral respiratory infections, prompting concerns about the severity of SARS-CoV-2 disease in children with asthma. We compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children presenting to the emergency department and the incidence of these visits, before and during the pandemic.

Methods

We included children aged 0 to 17 years presenting with asthma to 2 tertiary pediatric emergency departments in Montréal, Quebec, between the prepandemic (Jan. 1, 2017, to Mar. 31, 2020) and pandemic (Apr. 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021) periods. We compared the number of emergency department visits and hospital admissions with an interrupted time series analysis and co

SUBMITTER: Chelabi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9933991 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature