Authement, Matthew C.

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic underscored the critical need to strengthen healthcare systems and optimize resource allocation planning during times of disruption and crisis. This retrospective, single‐center, cross‐sectional study included 33,158 admissions for patients ≤ 17 years old admitted to the Children's Hospital (CH) between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. Data was abstracted using Vizient Clinical Data Base and the internal data warehouse. A Poisson regression model was implemented to compare admission diagnosis patterns during the pre‐ and intra‐pandemic phases. CH SARS‐CoV‐2 prevalence rate was 0.1% in 2020 and 0.5% in 2021. There was a decrease in overall admissions to the CH ( p < 0.01) and PICU ( p < 0.01) at the onset of the pandemic. There were significant and variable differences in admission patterns for certain infectious and seizure‐related diagnoses. The CH experienced an increase in certain specific mental health diagnoses. Seasonality was noted for viral bronchiolitis during the pre‐pandemic phase, but was disrupted during the intra‐pandemic phase. The COVID‐19 pandemic had a significant impact on the number and pattern of admissions, despite low prevalence of SARS‐CoV‐2 in our hospital. These changes may be secondary to COVID‐19 community mitigation strategies. Results can inform anticipated patterns during future pandemics.

Background : The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted healthcare, emphasizing the need to strengthen future pandemic responses and optimize resource allocation planning and deployment during times of disruption and crisis. Methods : This retrospective, single-center, cross-sectional study included participants ≤17 years-old admitted to the Children’s Hospital (CH) between 01/01/2017 and 12/31/2021. Clinical data was abstracted using Vizient ® Clinical Data Base and the internal data warehouse. Using the International Classification of Disease, 10 th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) admit diagnosis, frequency and pattern of total admissions during the pre-pandemic phase (2017 Q1-2019 Q4) and intra-pandemic phase (2020 Q1-2021 Q4) were compared. Results : The study included 33,158 admissions. CH SARS-CoV-2 prevalence rate was 0.1% in 2020 and 0.5% in 2021. There was a decrease in overall admissions to the CH (p <0.01) and PICU (p <0.01) at the start of the pandemic. There were significant and variable differences in admission patterns for certain infectious, mental health, and seizure related diagnoses. Seasonality was noted for viral bronchiolitis during the pre-pandemic phase but was disrupted during the intra-pandemic phase with significantly lower admission rates for viral bronchiolitis in 2020 Q4 (p <0.05) and 2021 Q1 (p <0.01), followed by a significant early increase in viral bronchiolitis admissions in 2021 Q3 (p <0.01). Conclusion : The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the number and pattern of admissions despite low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in our hospital. These changes may be secondary to COVID-19 mitigation strategies implemented in the community. Results can inform anticipated patterns during future pandemics.