Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-9-2022
Abstract
Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted healthcare delivery, including prenatal care. The study objective was to assess if timing of routine prenatal testing changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study using claims data from a regional insurer (Highmark) and electronic health record data from two academic health systems (Penn Medicine and Yale New Haven) to compare prenatal testing timing in the pre-pandemic (03/10/2018-12/31/2018 and 03/10/2019-12/31/2019) and early COVID-19 pandemic (03/10/2020-12/31/2020) periods. Primary outcomes were second trimester fetal anatomy ultrasounds and gestational diabetes (GDM) testing. A secondary analysis examined first trimester ultrasounds.
Results: The three datasets included 31,474 pregnant patients. Mean gestational age for second trimester anatomy ultrasounds increased from the pre-pandemic to COVID-19 period (Highmark 19.4 vs. 19.6 weeks; Penn: 20.1 vs. 20.4 weeks; Yale: 18.8 vs. 19.2 weeks, all p < 0.001). There was a detectable decrease in the proportion of patients who completed the anatomy survey <20 weeks' gestation across datasets, which did not persist at <23 weeks' gestation. There were no consistent changes in timing of GDM screening. There were significant reductions in the proportion of patients with first trimester ultrasounds in the academic institutions (Penn: 57.7% vs. 40.6% and Yale: 78.7% vs. 65.5%, both p < 0.001) but not Highmark. Findings were similar with multivariable adjustment.
Conclusion: While some prenatal testing happened later in pregnancy during the pandemic, pregnant patients continued to receive appropriately timed testing. Despite disruptions in care delivery, prenatal screening remained a priority for patients and providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended Citation
Handley, Sara C; Ledyard, Rachel; Lundsberg, Lisbet S; Passarella, Molly; Yang, Nancy; Son, Moeun; McKenney, Kathryn; Greenspan, Jay S.; Dysart, Kevin; Culhane, Jennifer F; and Burris, Heather H, "Changes in Prenatal Testing During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2022). Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers. Paper 122.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/pedsfp/122
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
36440341
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in Frontiers in Pediatrics, Volume 10, November 2022, Article number 1064039.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.1064039. Copyright © Handley et al.