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Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Admissions for Children With Developmental Disadvantages: A Western Sydney
Lanxin Li1, Habib Bhurawala1,2,3, Anthony Liu1,2
1Nepean Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Kingswond, New South Wales, Australia.
Insights
Sydney
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health Policy
- Disability Studies
Background:
- COVID-19 lockdowns significantly altered healthcare access and delivery.
- Children with developmental disadvantages faced unique challenges during these periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cerebral Palsy (CP), and Intellectual Disability (ID).
- To evaluate changes in hospital admission patterns and length of stay for this vulnerable population.
- To inform clinical practice and healthcare policy for children with developmental disabilities during public health crises.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of hospital electronic records for children with ASD, CP, or ID.
- Comparison of admission data from 36 months pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods.
- Analysis of common diagnoses, admission rates, and length of stay.
Main Results:
- Hospital presentations decreased during lockdown, but average length of stay increased by approximately 1.5-fold for children with developmental disabilities.
- Seizures, asthma, and upper respiratory tract infections remained common admissions.
- COVID-19 accounted for 4% of admissions; 20.8% of disadvantaged children had multiple major issues, none with concurrent COVID-19.
Conclusions:
- Children with developmental disabilities experienced increased disadvantages during lockdown due to healthcare access barriers.
- The benefits of reduced infection transmission were not evident in this cohort, highlighting a significant disease burden.
- Improved chronic disease management is crucial for future clinical practice, especially during public health emergencies.
Aims:
To investigate the impact of Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown on children with developmental disadvantages and reflect on current clinical practice.
Methods:
Retrospective data was collected from a western Sydney metropolitan hospital's electronic database and patients. We reviewed all children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cerebral Palsy (CP) or Intellectual Disability (ID) admitted 36 months prior to and after lockdown policy being implemented.
Results:
The prevalence of hospital presentation was reduced during the lockdown period. The average length of stay (LoS) increased by approximately 1.5 folds. Comparatively, the average LoS of the general paediatric population increased minimally. Seizures, asthma, and upper respiratory tract infections were the three commonest issues for hospital admissions in both periods. COVID-19 infection accounted for 4% of admissions in the lockdown period. Around 20.8% of patients with disadvantages were admitted with more than two major issues. None of these patients had concurrent COVID-19 infection.
Conclusions:
Children with developmental disabilities experience greater disadvantages during lockdown. The likely reasons include inequity caused by increased barriers to healthcare service. The indirect benefit of reducing infection transmission during lockdown was not reflected in our patient group, contributing to the disease burden. Chronic diseases remain the most common causes of admissions in all periods, suggesting the essentiality of improving chronic disease management in future clinical practice.
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