The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine (대한한방소아과학회지)

The Association of Korean Oriental Pediatrics (대한한방소아과학회)
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A Change in the Diagnosis of a Korean Pediatric Outpatients following the COVID-19 Pandemic

코로나19 유행에 따른 한방소아청소년과 외래 환자의 진단명 변화

  • Seo, Hae Sun (Department of Korean Pediatrics, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Park, So Hyun (Department of Pediatrics, Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital) ;
  • Park, Sul Gi (Department of Korean Pediatrics, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Lee, Sun Haeng (Department of Korean Pediatrics, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Lee, Jin Yong (Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine)
  • 서혜선 (경희대학교 대학원 소아과학교실) ;
  • 박소현 (경희대학교한방병원 한방소아과) ;
  • 박슬기 (경희대학교 대학원 소아과학교실) ;
  • 이선행 (경희대학교 대학원 소아과학교실) ;
  • 이진용 (한국한의학연구원)
  • Received : 2021.10.06
  • Accepted : 2021.11.18
  • Published : 2021.11.30
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Abstract

Objectives This study aims to provide directions for future Korean pediatric medicine treatment and researches by analyzing the characteristics of diseases of Korean pediatric outpatients before and after the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods We analyzed the medical records of 10,868 new patients aged 0-18 who visited the Korean pediatrics at Kyung Hee university hospital from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021. All patients were divided into 2 groups; patients who visited from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, before the coronavirus epidemic, and patients who visited from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, after the coronavirus epidemic. Within the two groups, the diagnosis distribution was performed for the entire population, by gender and by age group. Diagnoses were classified as allergy, growth, gastrointestinal, respiratory, general body supplementation, neuropsychiatric, skin, urogenital, musculoskeletal, and other systems. Results According to the comparative analysis results of before and after the COVID epidemic, there was a decreasing trend of diagnoses in relates to allergy, respiratory, urogenital, musculoskeletal system. On the other side, there was an increasing trend in gastrointestinal, general body supplementation, growth, neuropsychiatric, skin and other system. Changes in diagnosis based on gender and age group will be described below. Conclusions This study analyzed the characteristics of diseases of Korean pediatric outpatients before and after the COVID-19 epidemic, and suggested the direction of future Korean medicine treatment and researches for pediatrics. Also, this study aimed to propose proper treatments for children by showing the role of Korean pediatric medicine related to growth and development of children during the epidemic. However, this study has limitations such as failure to track the long-term impact of COVID-19. Thus, long term follow-up studies are needed to show the effect of COVID-19 on Korean pediatric medicine.

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References

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