Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38228342›Full record

ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2024

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.

Carina Iskander, Therese A Stukel, Christina Diong, Jun Guan, Natasha Saunders, Eyal Cohen, Marni Brownell, Alyson Mahar, Rayzel Shulman, Sima Gandhi and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. New and emerging drivers of ambulance demand.BMC emergency medicine · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Carina IskanderICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Therese A StukelICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Christina DiongICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Jun GuanICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Natasha SaundersICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Eyal CohenICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Marni BrownellICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Alyson MaharICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Rayzel ShulmanICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Sima GandhiICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man.
Astrid GuttmannICES (Iskander, Stukel, Diong, Guan, Saunders, Cohen, Mahar, Shulman, Gandhi, Guttmann); Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Stukel, Shulman), University of Toronto; Department of Paediatrics (Saunders, Cohen, Guttmann), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Community Health Sciences (Brownell, Mahar), University of Manitoba; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (Brownell), Winnipeg, Man. Astrid.guttmann@ices.on.ca.
University of Manitoba · CAHospital for Sick Children · CAUniversity of Toronto · CAManitoba Health · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe 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.

methodsWe 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 diseases sensitive to delays in care.

resultsAll acute care use for children decreased immediately at the onset of the pandemic, reaching its lowest rate in April 2020 for emergency department visits (adjusted relative rate [RR] 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.28-0.29) and hospital admissions (adjusted RR 0.43, 95% CI 0.42-0.44). These decreases were sustained until September 2021 and May 2022, respectively. During the pandemic overall, rates of all-cause mortality, admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, newborn readmissions or emergency department visits or hospital admissions among children with chronic health conditions did not exceed predicted rates. However, after declining significantly between March and May 2020, new presentations of diabetes mellitus increased significantly during most of 2021 (peak adjusted RR 1.49, 95% CI 1.28-1.74 in July 2021) and much of 2022. Among these children, presentations for diabetic ketoacidosis were significantly higher than expected during the pandemic overall (adjusted RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.00-1.30). We observed similar time trends for new presentations of cancer, but we observed no excess presentations of severe cancer overall (adjusted RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.62-1.34).

interpretationIn the first 30 months of the pandemic, disruptions to care were associated with important delays in new diagnoses of diabetes but not with other acute presentations of select preventable conditions or with mortality. Mitigation strategies in future pandemics or other health system disruptions should include education campaigns around important symptoms in children that require medical attention.

Indexed as

COVID-19NeoplasmsChildCross-Sectional StudiesDelivery of Health CareEmergency Service, HospitalHumansInfant, NewbornOntarioPandemics

Identifiers

PMID38228342
PMCPMC10802996
OpenAlexW4390916002

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.