A Comparative Study On Pre-and Post-Covid Paediatric Admissions In Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: The COVID 19 pandemic brought with it a complex pattern of changes in society behaviour especially in access to healthcare which was seen in markedly reduced trend of paediatrics hospital admissions worldwide. The aim of this study to see if a similar trend was present in Pakistan by comparing the number and characteristics of paediatrics inpatients in a tertiary care hospital.
Method: Retrospective cross-sectional study performed on patients aged 1-12 years admitted in paediatric ward of Punjab Rangers Teaching Hospital, Lahore during the year before Covid-19 pandemic, i.e., March 2019- February, 2020 and the year after the pandemic in Pakistan, March, 2020 - February, 2021. Data collected from hospital medical records included the number of paediatric admissions, admissions of infectious vs. non- infectious illnesses with special focus on Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) and Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) and whether patients were pre-schoolers or school-going children. The data was analysed using SPSSv.21.
Results: A decrease of 50% in Paediatric admissions was seen in post-Covid period which was significant (P-Value 0.001 (95% CI 17.6 – 54.3)). The fall in admissions of school-going children was more significant (P-Value <0.001) compared to preschool age admissions (P-value 0.026). Infectious disease was 70% of the admissions but fell by 60% after the pandemic started (P-value <0.001). There was a significant reduction in admissions with both ARI (P-value 0.049) and AGE (P-value 0031) in pre-school children.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that there was a significant decrease in paediatric hospital admissions during the pandemic. This is suggestive that patients may have avoided or refused necessary healthcare due to fear of contagion.