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. 2022 Aug 1;41(8):636-641.
doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000003570. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

Remote Versus In-person Outpatient Clinic Visits and Antibiotic Use Among Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dana Danino  1   2 , Shalom Ben-Shimol  1   2 , Amir Sharf  3 , David Greenberg  1   2 , Noga Givon-Lavi  1   2
Affiliations

Remote Versus In-person Outpatient Clinic Visits and Antibiotic Use Among Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dana Danino et al. Pediatr Infect Dis J. .

Abstract

Background: The proportion of remote clinic visits was expected to increase among children during the COVID-19 pandemic which might result in antibiotic overuse.

Methods: In southern Israel, 2 ethnic groups, Jewish and Bedouin, live side-by-side. Computerized data on visits for children <18 years were examined from clinics with ≥50 insured children, active both pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visits were divided into in-person and remote. Monthly infectious diagnoses and dispensed antibiotic prescription rates were calculated by age (<5, 5-17 years) and ethnic groups. Mean monthly rates of 2 parallel seasons (pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods) were compared.

Results: Overall 2,120,253 outpatient clinic visits were recorded. Remote clinic visit rates (per 1000 children) increased from 97.04 and 33.86 in the pre-COVID-19 to 179.75 and 50.05 in the COVID-19 period in Jewish and Bedouin children, respectively ( P < 0.01) along with a reduction of in-person visit rates in both populations. Comparing pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, the rates of overall infectious diagnoses in remote visits increased. Nevertheless, dispensed antibiotic prescription rates in remote visits (per 1000 visits) remained unchanged (9.84 vs. 8.67, P = 0.70, in the Jewish population and 14.32 vs. 14.17, P = 1.00, in the Bedouin population in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, respectively) with a similar distribution of antibiotic categories.

Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an expansion of remote visits of children <18 years with an increase in infectious diagnoses. However, remote dispensed antibiotic prescription rates remained unchanged. These dynamics were more accentuated in Jewish children, characterized by higher socio-economic conditions, compared to Bedouin children.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Monthly incidence rates of in-person and virtual outpatient clinic visits, children <18 years of age, February 2019 through January 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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