Large decrease in paediatric hospitalisations during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan

We evaluated the nationwide trends in paediatric hospitalisations including non-emergency hospitalisations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Using inpatient data from 272 acute-care hospitals covering 12.4% of total hospitalisations of all ages, we analysed the number of hospitalisations of chi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yasuki Kobayashi (Author), Atsushi Miyawaki (Author), Masaki Nakamura (Author), Hideki Ninomiya (Author), Kazuaki Sano (Author)
Format: Book
Published: BMJ Publishing Group, 2021-10-01T00:00:00Z.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to this object online.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We evaluated the nationwide trends in paediatric hospitalisations including non-emergency hospitalisations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Using inpatient data from 272 acute-care hospitals covering 12.4% of total hospitalisations of all ages, we analysed the number of hospitalisations of children (aged 1-17 years) for weeks 9-21 of 2020 (during the outbreak) versus 2017-2019. Hospitalisation decreased during the outbreak by 38.4% (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.69). There were reductions in communicable diseases and trauma, possibly through non-pharmaceutical interventions, but not in appendicitis. This study highlights the potential importance of reallocating paediatric care resources during the pandemic.
Item Description:10.1136/bmjpo-2020-001013
2399-9772