Project Details
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A prospective analysis of the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being and health care among children with a high-risk chronic condition and their families

Subject Area Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
Endocrinology, Diabetology, Metabolism
Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
Rheumatology
Term from 2021 to 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 459056379
 
Final Report Year 2025

Final Report Abstract

Chronic health conditions – such as diabetes, rheumatic diseases, and obesity – in childhood and adolescence are accompanied by physical limitations as well as mental health burdens for the afflicted children and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional stressors for these families due to the pandemic-related containment measures. The aim of the KICK-COVID study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare provision and the physical and mental health of children with diabetes, rheumatic diseases, or obesity aged up to 18 years. Furthermore, the mental health burden of their parents was examined. The assessment was conducted using a two-step approach: In the first step, children from three patient registries were invited to participate in a short survey as part of their routine check-up. In the second step, families were asked to participate in an extended online-survey. Data from N = 3053 children and adolescents (ntype 1 diabetes = 1296, nobesity = 518, nrheumatic diseases = 9420) and their parents were included into the analyses. Our findings indicate that access to healthcare was largely maintained for families of children with chronic health conditions. Although the degree of anxiety and depression symptoms were higher in adolescents with chronic health conditions than in a normative sample, they were lower than in a representative sample of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific disease-related parameters, e.g., HbA1c, insulin pump usage (diabetes), or functionality (rheumatic diseases), were positively associated with the adolescents’ mental health. Also, the parental burden was higher in parents of children without chronic health conditions than in parents of children with a chronic health condition. It could be assumed that families of children with a chronic health condition developed resilience during the course of the disease, which buffered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health. Nonetheless, it is crucial to examine the mental health of afflicted families in order to identify and support highly-strained families.

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