Comparison of general pediatric ward admissions between the COVID-19 pandemic and pre-pandemic period

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of life as well as hospital admissions. We hypothesized that many infectious diseases and hospitalizations in the pediatric age group might have decreased during the pandemic period. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate patients admitted to the general pediatric wards during the pandemic in comparison with the pre-pandemic period. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional SETTING: General pediatrics wards of a tertiary hospital in Istanbul PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included patients aged 0-18 years who were followed up while hospitalized in the general pediatrics wards between 11 March 2019 and 11 March 2021. The hospitalizations were grouped as pre-pandemic and pandemic based on the date when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic (11 March 2020). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospital admissions, length of stay, diagnoses, gender, age. SAMPLE SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS: 4343 hospitalizations. RESULTS: Of the total 4343 hospitalizations meeting the inclusion criteria, 2786 (64.1%) occurred before the pandemic and 1557 (35.9%) during the pandemic, a 44% decrease. The distribution of all hospitalization diagnoses during the two years was as follows: respiratory tract diseases, 1768 (40.7%); neurological diseases, 946 (21.8%); gastrointestinal diseases, 550 (12.7%); hematological and oncological diseases, 514 (11.8%); genitourinary system and nephrological diseases, 504 (11.6%); and soft tissue infections, 255 (5.9%). During two years, there were 1418 (32.7%) patients with lower respiratory tract infections, 316 (7.3%) with gastroenteritis, and 440 (10.1%) with urinary system infections. The median hospital stay was 6 days before the pandemic and 4 days during the pandemic (P<.0001). During the pandemic, the rate of respiratory diseases decreased from 48.7 to 26.5%, and that of lower respiratory tract infections decreased from 40.5 to 18.6% (P<.0001). CONCLUSION: Both previous studies and our results indicate that many infectious diseases in the pediatric age group significantly decreased, especially in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. LIMITATIONS: Single-center study. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.