February 16, 2021

Trends in US Pediatric Hospital Admissions in 2020 Compared With the Decade Before the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): children, public health

US pediatric hospital admissions in the US were lower in 2020 compared to the past 10 years, according to a cross-sectional study of over 5 million US pediatric hospital admissions at 49 hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information Systems database. There was a decrease in the number of admissions beginning in March 2020 compared with the period from 2010 to 2019, reaching a peak reduction of 45% in April 2020.  Inflation-adjusted hospital charges in the second quarter of 2020 decreased 28% compared with prior years, and there were significant reductions in all examined diagnoses except for birth.

Pelletier et al. (Feb 12, 2021). Trends in US Pediatric Hospital Admissions in 2020 Compared With the Decade Before the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.37227