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Updated: Jul 25, 2025
Author Spotlight: Capturing Infant-Caregiver Interactions Through Synchronized Multimodal Data Collection
Published on: May 31, 2024
Caregiver Concerns About Child Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic among those with Missed Appointments:
Audrey G Brewer1,2,3, Nina L Alfieri1,2, Emily Golbeck3
1Departments of Division of Advanced General Pediatrics and Primary Care, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Insights
Caregivers reported children falling behind developmental milestones after canceled appointments during Chicago
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders disrupted routine healthcare.
- Canceled or delayed appointments impacted children's access to essential services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess caregiver perceptions of children falling behind developmental milestones.
- To analyze the impact of appointment disruptions during the pandemic.
Main Methods:
- Web-based caregiver survey conducted in metropolitan Chicago.
- Multivariable logistic regression analyzed developmental milestone delays.
Main Results:
- 7.5% of caregivers reported developmental delays after appointment disruptions.
- Children with missed therapeutic appointments had significantly higher odds of delays (aOR 10.3).
- Caregiver job loss or reduced income increased the likelihood of delays.
Conclusions:
- Disruptions in pediatric therapeutic services require new strategies.
- Addressing social needs is crucial, especially for families facing job insecurity.
- Proactive interventions are needed to mitigate developmental impacts.
Introduction:
To examine caregiver's perception of their child falling behind on developmental milestones after canceled or delayed appointments in metropolitan Chicago during stay-at-home orders, from March 21-May 7, 2020.
Methods:
We fielded a web-based caregiver survey to understand the impact of the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's health care experiences characterizing proportions of caregiver perceptions of children falling behind in developmental milestones by canceled or delayed appointment types. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of falling behind in milestones .
Results:
Overall, 229 (7.5%) caregivers reported children with canceled or delayed appointments falling behind in developmental milestones. Approximately 25.4% of caregivers reported children falling behind on milestones in the Missed Therapeutic group, compared with the Other Missed group (2.9%) (p<0.001). Children in the Missed Therapeutic group (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 10.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 7.60-14.0)) and caregivers who experienced job loss (aOR 1.59, CI 1.11-2.28) or reduced hours or pay (aOR 1.90, CI 1.28-2.82) had higher odds of falling behind on developmental milestones.
Conclusions:
Implementation of new strategies to address the social needs of families should be develop when disruptions in developmental or therapeutic services among children occurs, particularly among children living in households with job insecurity.
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