Childhood asthma diagnoses declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Adolescent
Asthma/epidemiology
Child
Database
Pandemics
Journal
Respiratory research
ISSN: 1465-993X
Titre abrégé: Respir Res
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101090633
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
10 Mar 2023
10 Mar 2023
Historique:
received:
16
02
2023
accepted:
28
02
2023
entrez:
10
3
2023
pubmed:
11
3
2023
medline:
15
3
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Prior studies have documented declines in pediatric asthma exacerbations and asthma-related health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic, but less is known about the incidence of asthma during the pandemic. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children under age 18 without a prior diagnosis of asthma within a large US commercial claims database. Incident asthma was defined using a combination of diagnosis codes, location of services, and medication dispensing. Crude quarterly rates of asthma diagnosis per 1000 children were calculated, and the incidence rate ratio and 95% confidence interval were estimated for newly diagnosed asthma during versus before the pandemic using negative binomial regression, adjusted for age, sex, region, and season. Compared with 3 years prior to the pandemic, crude incident diagnosis rates of asthma decreased by 52% across the first four quarters of the US pandemic. The covariate-adjusted pandemic-associated incidence rate ratio was 0.47 (95% confidence interval 0.43, 0.51). New diagnoses of childhood asthma in the US declined by half during the first year of the pandemic. These findings raise important questions whether pandemic-related changes in infectious or other triggers truly altered the incidence of childhood asthma beyond the well-described disruptions in healthcare access.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Prior studies have documented declines in pediatric asthma exacerbations and asthma-related health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic, but less is known about the incidence of asthma during the pandemic.
METHODS
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children under age 18 without a prior diagnosis of asthma within a large US commercial claims database. Incident asthma was defined using a combination of diagnosis codes, location of services, and medication dispensing. Crude quarterly rates of asthma diagnosis per 1000 children were calculated, and the incidence rate ratio and 95% confidence interval were estimated for newly diagnosed asthma during versus before the pandemic using negative binomial regression, adjusted for age, sex, region, and season.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Compared with 3 years prior to the pandemic, crude incident diagnosis rates of asthma decreased by 52% across the first four quarters of the US pandemic. The covariate-adjusted pandemic-associated incidence rate ratio was 0.47 (95% confidence interval 0.43, 0.51).
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
New diagnoses of childhood asthma in the US declined by half during the first year of the pandemic. These findings raise important questions whether pandemic-related changes in infectious or other triggers truly altered the incidence of childhood asthma beyond the well-described disruptions in healthcare access.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36899362
doi: 10.1186/s12931-023-02377-7
pii: 10.1186/s12931-023-02377-7
pmc: PMC9999066
doi:
Types de publication
Letter
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
72Subventions
Organisme : NIAMS NIH HHS
ID : R01 AR074436
Pays : United States
Organisme : NCATS NIH HHS
ID : UL1 TR003017
Pays : United States
Organisme : Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health
ID : R01AR074436
Organisme : Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health
ID : UL1TR003017
Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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