Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 1678 Dongfang Road, Shanghai, People's Republic of China, 200127.
Department of Pediatrics, Shanghai Fengxian District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Eur J Pediatr. 2023 Mar;182(3):1351-1359. doi: 10.1007/s00431-023-04817-4. Epub 2023 Jan 19.
Consequences of epidemic quarantine on children's well-being are not clear and there are scarce data about the short-term impact of epidemic quarantine on children's growth and development. The study aimed to explore and analyze the potential impacts of the Omicron outbreak on children's growth and development during the lockdown in Shanghai, China. Totally, 4565 children aged 1-36 months who had a routine physical examination in the child health departments of hospitals before (June 1, 2021, to July 6, 2021) and after (June 1, 2022, to July 6, 2022) Shanghai's lockdown were included in this study. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted by using the Infant Toddler Growth Development Screening Test (ITGDST). The children's growth and development in these two periods were compared with a propensity score matching (PSM) approach. After 1:1 matching, a total of 2462 children aged 1-36 months were analyzed. After PSM, there was no significant difference in terms of overall development, gross motor, fine motor, and language development for children before and after the Omicron lockdown. However, statistically significant decrease of wasting was observed for children after the lockdown (p < 0.05). Further interaction analysis indicated older age group (OR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.11-0.59) and the group of second parity (OR = 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.83) were favorable to language development during the lockdown. Conclusion: Short-term quarantine had no significant adverse, but rather beneficial, effects on growth and development of children aged 1-36 months during the Omicron epidemic in Shanghai, China. What is Known: • Consequences of epidemic quarantine on children's well-being are not clear. Long-term psychological effects of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on children have been reported. However, there are scarce data about the short-term impact of epidemic quarantine on children's growth and development. What is New: • Short-term quarantine had no significant adverse, but rather beneficial, effects on growth and development of children aged 1-36 months during the Omicron epidemic in Shanghai, China.
疫情隔离对儿童福祉的影响尚不清楚，关于疫情隔离对儿童生长发育的短期影响的数据也很少。本研究旨在探讨和分析 2022 年上海奥密克戎疫情封锁期间对儿童生长发育的潜在影响。共有 4565 名 1-36 月龄儿童纳入本研究，这些儿童在上海市封锁前后（2021 年 6 月 1 日至 7 月 6 日和 2022 年 6 月 1 日至 7 月 6 日）在医院的儿保科进行常规体格检查。采用婴幼儿生长发育筛查测验（ITGDST）进行基于人群的横断面研究。采用倾向评分匹配（PSM）方法比较这两个时期儿童的生长发育情况。1:1 匹配后，共分析了 2462 名 1-36 月龄儿童。PSM 后，奥密克戎封锁前后儿童的总体发育、大运动、精细运动和语言发育均无显著差异。然而，封锁后儿童消瘦的发生率显著下降（p<0.05）。进一步的交互分析表明，年龄较大组（OR=0.26，95%CI 0.11-0.59）和二胎组（OR=0.30，95%CI 0.11-0.83）在封锁期间有利于语言发育。结论：上海奥密克戎疫情期间，短期隔离对 1-36 月龄儿童的生长发育无明显不良影响，反而有益。已知：• 疫情隔离对儿童福祉的影响尚不清楚。有报道称，新型冠状病毒病 2019 大流行对儿童的长期心理影响。然而，关于疫情隔离对儿童生长发育的短期影响的数据很少。新发现：• 上海奥密克戎疫情期间，短期隔离对 1-36 月龄儿童的生长发育无明显不良影响，反而有益。
