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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric cardiac services in India.
- Source :
-
Annals of Pediatric Cardiology . Jul-Sep2021, Vol. 14 Issue 3, p260-268. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Background: COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted pediatric cardiac services across the globe. Limited data are available on the impact of COVID-19 on pediatric cardiac care in India. Aims: The aims are to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the care of children with heart disease in India in terms of number of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries. Settings and Design: This is a retrospective, multicentric, observational study. Methods: We collected monthly data on the number and characteristics of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries and major hospital statistics, over a period of 5 months (April to August 2020), which coincided with the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India and compared it with data from the corresponding months in 2019. Results : The outpatient visits across the 24 participating pediatric cardiac centers decreased by 74.5% in 2020 (n = 13,878) as compared to the corresponding period in 2019 (n = 54,213). The reduction in the number of hospitalizations, cardiac surgeries, and catheterization procedures was 66.8%, 73.0%, and 74.3%, respectively. The reduction in hospitalization was relatively less pronounced among neonates as compared to infants/children (47.6% vs. 70.1% reduction) and for emergency surgeries as compared to elective indications (27.8% vs. 79.2%). The overall in-hospital mortality was higher in 2020 (8.1%) as compared to 2019 (4.8%), with a higher postoperative mortality (9.1% vs. 4.3%). Conclusions: The current COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the delivery of pediatric cardiac care across India with two-third reduction in hospitalizations and cardiac surgeries. In an already resource-constrained environment, the impact of such a massive reduction in the number of surgeries could be significant over the coming years. These findings may prove useful in formulating strategy to manage subsequent waves of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CARDIAC catheterization
*CARDIAC surgery
*RESEARCH
*SCIENTIFIC observation
*PEDIATRICS
*RETROSPECTIVE studies
*MEDICAL cooperation
*HOSPITAL care of newborn infants
*COMPARATIVE studies
*HOSPITAL mortality
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*COVID-19 pandemic
*HEART diseases
*OUTPATIENT services in hospitals
*HOSPITAL care of children
*CHILDREN
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09742069
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Annals of Pediatric Cardiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152113539
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.4103/apc.apc_133_21