The COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on General Pediatric Ward Admissions: A Single-Center Study

Abstract Objective A decline in health care utilization and hospital admissions resulted from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, severely affecting many aspects of life. In this study, we sought to evaluate the pandemic impact on general pediatric admissions by comparing the 1-year prepandemic period. Methods From the hospital records, all pediatric admissions from the beginning of March 2020 to the end of February 2021 and the corresponding period in 2019 to 2020 were included in this descriptive study. Results A total of 4,179 hospitalizations met the study's inclusion criteria; 2,778 occurred before the pandemic and 1,401 occurred during the pandemic. The total pediatric hospitalizations decreased by 49.6% during the pandemic compared with before. Asthma (p-value < 0.001), acute bronchiolitis (p-value = 0.01), upper respiratory tract infections (p-value < 0.001), and delivery-related disorders (p-value = 0.01) all showed substantial significant decreases during the pandemic period compared with the prepandemic era. Conclusion The decline in the overall hospitalization rate reflected the fear of contracting COVID-19 in an unsafe hospital environment. Concurrently, the incidence of communicable diseases fell due to pandemic-related lockdowns, hand hygiene issues, and school closures. While social distancing is highly recommended to protect children's health, public health officials must keep reminding parents not to defer necessary care since pediatric services remain accessible and unaffected during these difficult times.