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Table 1 Yearly rates, rate ratios and reductions 2020–2021 vs. 2016–2019 in children < 18 years old

From: Disproportionate reduction in respiratory vs. non-respiratory outpatient clinic visits and antibiotic use in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

 

Mean yearly rate

Yearly rate

Rate Ratio

Reduction

Feb 2016-Jan 2020

Feb 2020-Jan 2021

  

Visitsa

 Overall clinic visits

4852.1 ± 99.4

3804.1

0.784 (0.783 to 0.786)

21.6%

 Respiratory visits

1938.3 ± 85.6

970.7

0.501 (0.499 to 0.503)

49.9%

 URI

1459.4 ± 64.5

730.7

0.501 (0.499 to 0.504)

49.9%

 LRI

158.3 ± 6.2

66.3

0.419 (0.413 to 0.426)

58.1%

 AOM

281 ± 14.6

149.6

0.533 (0.528 to 0.539)

46.7%

 Asthma

39.5 ± 2.2

24

0.608 (0.592 to 0.625)

39.2%

 AGE visits

201.2 ± 11.3

106

0.527 (0.521 to 0.534)

47.3%

 Non-respiratory, non-AGE visits

540.7 ± 19.9

381.5

0.706 (0.701 to 0.711)

29.4%

 UTI

23.1 ± 0.9

18.9

0.818 (0.792 to 0.843)

18.2%

 Epilepsy

15.8 ± 0.9

17.1

1.082 (1.046 to 1.119)

-8.2%

 Trauma

242.1 ± 8.9

193.9

0.801 (0.794 to 0.809)

19.9%

 SSTI

57.5 ± 1.4

45

0.782 (0.766 to 0.798)

21.8%

Prescriptionsa

 All respiratory prescriptions

1577.1 ± 93.5

838.1

0.532 (0.53 to 0.535)

46.8%

 Respiratory antibiotics prescriptions

766.4 ± 53.7

387.8

0.507 (0.504 to 0.51)

49.3%

 Amoxicillin/Amoxicillin clavulanate

629 ± 44.3

316.6

0.504 (0.5 to 0.508)

49.6%

 Azithromycin

126.1 ± 7.8

66.1

0.525 (0.517 to 0.533)

47.5%

 Ceftriaxone

11.3 ± 1.6

5.1

0.455 (0.429 to 0.482)

54.5%

 Respiratory non-antibiotic prescriptions

810.8 ± 40.6

450.3

0.556 (0.553 to 0.56)

44.4%

 Asthma inhalators and solutions

270.7 ± 6.2

164.8

0.609 (0.603 to 0.615)

39.1%

 Throat relief and nasal congestion

540.1 ± 37.1

285.5

0.53 (0.525 to 0.534)

47.0%

 All non-respiratory prescriptions

118.6 ± 3.6

110.1

0.928 (0.916 to 0.94)

7.2%

 Non-respiratory antibiotics prescriptions

56.1 ± 3

47.7

0.849 (0.832 to 0.866)

15.1%

 OFGC

47.5 ± 3.2

41.7

0.876 (0.858 to 0.895)

12.4%

 TMP/SMX

8.6 ± 0.8

6

0.697 (0.66 to 0.736)

30.3%

 Non-respiratory, non-antibiotics prescriptions

  Anti-epileptic

62.5 ± 1

62.4

0.998 (0.981 to 1.016)

0.2%

  1. URI upper respiratory tract infection, LRI lower respiratory tract infection, AOM acute otitis media, AGE acute gastroenteritis, UTI urinary tract infection, SSTI skin and soft tissue infection, OFGC oral first generation cephalosporins, TMP/SMX trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole
  2. aper 1,000 children