Functional status of hospitalized pediatric patients with COVID-19 in southern Brazil: a prospective cohort study

Nutritional risk and functionality of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19

To evaluate the association between nutritional risk and functionality of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 at admission and discharge.

METHODS

Retrospective cross-sectional study with patients under 19 years old, positive for SARS-COV-2 by RT-PCR test, from February 2020 to May 2022. The STRONGKids screening (Screening Tool Risk On Nutritional Status and Growth) was used to assess nutritional risk on hospital admission and the Functional Status Scale (FSS-Brazil) to determine the functionality of patients on admission and discharge. Data was collected from hospital medical records. Poisson regressions with crude robust variance were used to test the association between nutritional risk and functional status at admission, with adjustments for the age, length of stay, and presence of complex chronic conditions.

RESULTS

Of the 217 patients, 55.7% (n = 121) were boys with a median age of 6 years (IQ 0-12), 58.5% (n = 127) had at least one complex chronic condition, 64% (n = 139) had medium/high nutritional risk, and 23.9% (n = 52) had some degree of dysfunctionality upon admission and 14.6% (n = 31) upon discharge. By associating STRONGKids and the FSS-Brasil of hospital admission, it was observed that children with low nutritional risk had a mean global FSS lower (6.4 ± 0.7) than children with medium/high nutritional risk (7. 7 ± 2.8; p < 0.001). Children with low nutritional risk on admission also had a lower mean (6.1 ± 0.59) on the FSS at hospital discharge than children with medium/high nutritional risk (7.1 ± 2.5; p < 0.001). After adjustments, it was identified that the addition of one STRONGKids point increases by 36% (PR 1.36; 95%CI 1.15-1.62) the probability of the patient presenting some degree of functional impairment on admission.    Conclusion: The study found a positive association between nutritional risk and functional impairment in hospitalized children and adolescents with COVID-19 on admission, even after adjusting for age, length of stay, and complex chronic conditions. Furthermore, patients with medium/high nutritional risk at admission also had worse functionality, both on admission and at discharge.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Children and adolescents infected with COVID-19 tend to exhibit milder symptoms and lower hospitalization rates compared to adults, although severe cases and complications can occur. • A paucity of targeted investigations exists regarding the correlation between nutritional risk and functionality in children and adolescents with COVID-19.

WHAT IS NEW

• Children and adolescents with COVID-19 who presented with medium to high nutritional risk upon hospital admission demonstrated functional impairments, both at admission and hospital discharge.

One-year follow-up of children hospitalized with COVID-19: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Currently, little is known about the long-term outcomes of COVID-19 in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term clinical outcomes of pediatric patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study involving unvaccinated children and adolescents admitted to a tertiary hospital in southern Brazil with a COVID-19 diagnosis. Data were collected from electronic medical records for one year after the diagnosis.

RESULTS

A total of 66 children were included: the median age was 2.9 years; 63.6% were male; and 48.5% were under 2 years of age. Over 70% had at least one comorbidity prior to the COVID-19 diagnosis. During the one-year follow-up period, 59.1% of the children revisited the emergency department, 50% required readmission, and 15.2% died. Younger children with longer hospital stays were found to be at greater risk of readmission. Having cancer and impaired functionality were found to increase the risk of death within one year.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that most children hospitalized with COVID-19 have comorbidities. Younger age at admission and a longer hospital stay seem to be risk factors for readmission. In addition, the presence of cancer and impaired functionality are apparently associated with the poor outcome of death within the first year after the diagnosis of COVID-19.