Change in Pediatric Health Care Spending and Drug Utilization during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Riccardo Lubrano,Saverio Mallardo,Emanuela Del Giudice,Anna Dilillo,Loredana Arenare,Giovanni Cerimoniale,Vanessa Martucci,Flavia Ventriglia,Donatella Iorfida,Enrica De Luca,Alessia Marcellino,Sara Isoldi,Concetta Malvaso,Silvia Bloise,Anna Lisa Grandinetti,Mariateresa Sanseviero,Giuseppina Ragni

doi:10.3390/children8121183

Riccardo Lubrano, Saverio Mallardo + Show 15 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/children8121183

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Journal: Children	Publication Date: Dec 15, 2021
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, ASL Roma

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate how the restrictive measures implemented during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have influenced the incidence of the most common children’s diseases and the consumption of medications in 2020 compared to 2019. Methods: We involved all family pediatricians of the local health authority of Latina, from which we requested data of monthly visits in 2019 and 2020 for six common diseases disseminated through droplets and contact, and the territorial and integrative pharmaceutical unit of the area, from which we requested data of the net expenditure regarding the most commonly used drugs at pediatric age. Results: There was significant reduction in the incidence of the evaluated diseases and in the consumption of investigated drugs between 2019 and 2020 in the months when the restrictive measures were in place, with an attenuation of this effect during the months of the gradual loosening of those measures. Conclusion: Nonpharmaceutical intervention measures have caused changes in the diffusion of common pediatric diseases. We believe that the implementation of a reasonable containment strategy, even outside of the pandemic, could positively influence the epidemiology of infectious and allergic diseases in children, and healthcare system spending.

Highlights

Our results show that the year 2020, dominated by COVID-19, was a year unlike any other, with significant changes in children’s pediatric care
Along with a non-severe spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children [23,24], we observed a drastic reduction in the incidence of the main pediatric diseases caused by atopy and common seasonal bacteria and viruses
In 2020 the typical increase in consultations and hospital admissions for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza viruses did not occur during the winter season [13,25,26]

Summary

Introduction

Since the end of 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in Wuhan, China, and responsible for the outbreak of severe respiratory disease, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread rapidly around the world. On. 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic [1]. Was one of the most affected countries in the world by SARS-CoV-2, with most of the cases registered in the north. In order to face the pandemic, the Italian government and public health agencies have developed and implemented several recommendations to contain the spread of infection. Learning from the past, the main proposed preventive measures were: stay-at-home orders, social distancing, handwashing and mask wearing, in hospital settings, and for the general population [2,3]

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Methods

Conclusion