Hospitalization dynamics during COVID-19: Insights into disease trends and patient outcomes

Mahsa Motiei, Afagh Hassanzadeh Rad, Hamidreza Badeli, Reza Bayat

Abstract

To find the pattern of hospitalization pattern change in COVID-19 pandemic, we aimed to compare the admission and mortality rate of each disease in all wards before and during the pandemic.

Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 [1] pandemic has caused significant changes to healthcare systems throughout the world [2]. This virus was initially discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in late 2019. From there, it quickly spread to other nations [3] and various strategies including social distancing and self-isolation were implemented by healthcare authorities to limit the impact of the spreading virus [4,5].

Methods

In this retrospective study, we used data from health information system of 17 Shahrivar referral pediatric hospital center in Rasht city, the north of Iran. This is the only pediatric specialty hospital that caters exclusively to healthcare needs of children in Guilan region, Iran.

Results

Characteristics of hospitalized children before and during COVID-19 pandemic are presented in Table 1. There was a significant difference between sex and age distribution before and during the pandemic (P=0.041, P<0.001). Comparing these two periods showed a decreasing trend in terms of the frequency of admission (14922 vs. 10941 patients).

Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the healthcare utilizations, worldwide, with profound impact on non-COVID-related diseases [17,18]. Therefore, it is crucial to study these changes and find out the pattern of change for a better management of health systems in case of any future pandemics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the hospitalization patterns. Our results demonstrated the rates of admission and mortality associated with various diseases, categorized using ICD-10 codes.

Citation: Motiei M, Hassanzadeh Rad A, Badeli H, Bayat R (2025) Hospitalization dynamics during COVID-19: Insights into disease trends and patient outcomes. PLoS One 20(4): e0321269. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321269

Editor: Omnia Samir El Seifi, University of Tabuk, SAUDI ARABIA

Received: December 22, 2024; Accepted: March 4, 2025; Published: April 28, 2025

Copyright: © 2025 Motiei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All the data supporting the results of this study are available within the manuscript.

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.