Nguyen, H.B.; Mulpuri, N.; Cook, D.; Greenberg, M.; Shrader, M.W.; Sanborn, R.; Mulpuri, K.; Shore, B.J. The Impact of COVID-19 on Multidisciplinary Care Delivery to Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Neuromuscular Complex Chronic Conditions. Children2023, 10, 1555.
Nguyen, H.B.; Mulpuri, N.; Cook, D.; Greenberg, M.; Shrader, M.W.; Sanborn, R.; Mulpuri, K.; Shore, B.J. The Impact of COVID-19 on Multidisciplinary Care Delivery to Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Neuromuscular Complex Chronic Conditions. Children 2023, 10, 1555.
Nguyen, H.B.; Mulpuri, N.; Cook, D.; Greenberg, M.; Shrader, M.W.; Sanborn, R.; Mulpuri, K.; Shore, B.J. The Impact of COVID-19 on Multidisciplinary Care Delivery to Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Neuromuscular Complex Chronic Conditions. Children2023, 10, 1555.
Nguyen, H.B.; Mulpuri, N.; Cook, D.; Greenberg, M.; Shrader, M.W.; Sanborn, R.; Mulpuri, K.; Shore, B.J. The Impact of COVID-19 on Multidisciplinary Care Delivery to Children with Cerebral Palsy and Other Neuromuscular Complex Chronic Conditions. Children 2023, 10, 1555.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges in the care of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and other neuromuscular complex chronic conditions (NCCC). The purpose of this study was to explore the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare delivery. From May to August 2020, medical professionals caring for CP and NCCC patients across multiple countries and disciplines completed a self-administered cross-sectional survey comparing practices before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 79 healthcare workers from 8 countries who participated—predominantly pediatric orthopedic surgeons (32%), pediatricians (30%), and pediatric physiatrists (23%)—most felt that caring for NCCC patients during the pandemic presented with unique difficulties and reported a significant decrease in in-person NCCC clinic volume (p<0.001), multidisciplinary appointments (p<0.001), surgical cases (p=0.005), and botulinum toxin/phenol injections. Most providers affirmed that institutional guidelines for perioperative emergent/urgent and elective procedures, workplace settings, and technology were modified to accommodate the ongoing public health crisis. Usage of telemedicine significantly increased for NCCC patient visits (p<0.001). During the COVID-19 pandemic, many children with NCCC lost access to routine, multidisciplinary care. Telemedicine became an integral part of communication and management. In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic and threat of future healthcare disruptions, these data lay the foundation for trending the evolution of healthcare delivery and accelerating best practice guidelines for children with CP and NCCC.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
