ArticleTurkish archives of pediatrics2022
Significant Reduction in Pediatric, Population-Based Hospital Admissions Due To COVID-19 in Malta.
Article in Turkish archives of pediatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Vitamin D Status in Children: Romania's National Vitamin D Screening Programme in Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Observational
- Non-COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: a longitudinal assessment of 41 million people in 2019-2022.BMC public health · 2024Article
- COVID-19 lockdown effect on healthcare utilization and in-hospital mortality in children under 5 years in Cape Town, South Africa: a cross-sectional study.Journal of tropical pediatrics · 2023Article
- Increase in Rate of Hospitalizations for Pediatric Intentional Acetaminophen Ingestion at a Single Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Clinical pediatrics · 2023Article
- The Dilemma of Pediatric Intensive Care Admissions During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Patients Without a Rheumatic Disease Diagnosis in a Pediatric Rheumatology Unit: Retrospective Analysis and Comparison Between Pre-pandemic and Pandemic Periods.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2023Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patient Admissions to the Developmental Pediatrics Unit: An Outpatient Clinic in Eastern Turkey.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Their Families.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis population-based, retrospective study aimed to determine whether there was a drop in pediatric admissions during the first year of COVID-19 in Malta, as reported in other centers worldwide, as well as to determine any differences in patient characteristics when compared to the previous year. MATERIALS AND
methodsAll unplanned pediatric medical admissions to Mater Dei Hospital from March 1, 2020 (a few days before the first case of COVID-19 in Malta) till February 28, 2021 (study period) and the corresponding period in 2019/20 (control period) and characteristics of patients admitted during the first 10 weeks (first wave of COVID-19) were analyzed.
resultsPediatric admissions dropped by 57.7% during the first year of COVID-19 (1601 vs. 3789 in 2019). During the first wave of COVID-19, a higher percentage of neonates were admitted in 2020 when compared to all other ages. There was a lower prevalence of respiratory illnesses during the first wave of COVID-19 (31.6% vs. 47.5% in 2019, P < .001), with a higher prevalence of cases related to child abuse or adverse socio-economic circumstances (2020, 9 [3.4%] vs 1 [0.1%] in 2019, P < .001). Following school closures, a drop in communicable disease admissions was recorded (68 [42.2%] vs. 421 [70.3%] in 2019, P < .001). A negative correlation between daily pediatric admissions and active COVID-19 cases in Malta was noted (r (68) = -0.33, P = .005).
conclusionThe drop in admissions likely represents fear of contracting COVID-19 in hospital environments, together with a decline in communicable diseases due to school closures. Guardians' concerns must be alleviated as best as possible by effective public health measures.
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