Abstract
Objective
To highlight the possibility that measures taken to mitigate the COVID‐19 pandemic may lead to a substantial delay of examination by physical medicine specialists and timely rehabilitation programs for children with neurological risks.
Patients and methods
We performed a retrospective medical history‐based study between 2020 and 2021. The comparator was the number of first examinations in total. In addition, the number of the first examinations of children with neurological risks by physical medicine specialists in 2017, 2018 and 2019 was recorded.
Main Outcome Measures
The outcome was change in the number of the first examinations and the age of the patients when the examination was first performed.
Results
During the pandemic year 2020, the total number of first examinations was lower by 244 (38%; 95% CI: 34–42%), and the number of first examinations of children with neurological risks was lower by 216 (36%; 95% CI: 33–40%). On the contrary, in 2021, there was an increase in the total number of first examinations by 114 (18%; 95% CI 15–21%) and first examinations of children with neurological risks compared to the pre‐pandemic years by 97 (16%; 95% CI 13–20%). Furthermore, the division of patients according to age at the moment of the first examination significantly differed in the pre‐pandemic and pandemic 2021 periods (λ=11.8; p=0.018). The most contributing factor to this difference was the group of patients older than 12 months.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that the chaotic initial stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic during 2020 caused delay in examinations by physical medicine specialists for children with neurological risks that could potentially affect neurodevelopment outcomes.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.