Version 1
: Received: 22 August 2024 / Approved: 22 August 2024 / Online: 23 August 2024 (09:16:21 CEST)
How to cite:
Nantsi, E.; Chatziioannidis, I.; Pouliakis, A.; Mitsiakos, G.; Kondilis, E. Attendance in a Neonatal Follow-up Program before and in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic. Preprints2024, 2024081678. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1678.v1
Nantsi, E.; Chatziioannidis, I.; Pouliakis, A.; Mitsiakos, G.; Kondilis, E. Attendance in a Neonatal Follow-up Program before and in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic. Preprints 2024, 2024081678. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1678.v1
Nantsi, E.; Chatziioannidis, I.; Pouliakis, A.; Mitsiakos, G.; Kondilis, E. Attendance in a Neonatal Follow-up Program before and in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic. Preprints2024, 2024081678. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1678.v1
APA Style
Nantsi, E., Chatziioannidis, I., Pouliakis, A., Mitsiakos, G., & Kondilis, E. (2024). Attendance in a Neonatal Follow-up Program before and in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1678.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Nantsi, E., Georgios Mitsiakos and Elias Kondilis. 2024 "Attendance in a Neonatal Follow-up Program before and in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1678.v1
Abstract
Background: Attendance to neonatal follow-up programs (NFU) presents as a significant factor associated with long-term outcome of high-risk infants. Few studies have focused on attrition or loss to follow up particularly during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, data from 1137 high-risk neonates who participated in a hospital NFU program were collected (573 before and 564 after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic). The study sample was grouped to: G1 (N=831) who maintained participation in the program, G2 (N=196) who discontinued, and G3 (N=110) who never visited the outpatient clinics. Data was obtained from the hospital's Systems Applications and Products Software, and a structured questionnaire, answered by parents of newborns either discontinuing (G2) or not attending (G3) the NFU program, through a telephone contact.Results: The most frequently reported reason for discontinuance before the onset of the pandemic was the parents' perception that it was not necessary to maintain participation in the program (44.12%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, provider-related barriers to maintaining hospital access, inability to provide high-quality services (37.14%), and feelings of fear and insecurity (18.5%), emerged as factors for non-attendance. Citizenship and morbidity (RDS, sepsis, NEC, jaundice) acted as incentives to join the NFU program during both study periods. Multiple regression analysis showed that multiple gestation infants had higher odds for maintaining participation during the COVID-19 period (OR, 4.04; CI, 1.09-14.9). Conclusion: Understanding the potential impact of COVID-19 and the transformative changes in NFU clinics is crucial to apply compliance strategies. Removing barriers to maintain family participation can lead to increased attendance rates.
Keywords
attendance; neonate; follow up program; COVID-19 pandemic
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
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.
