Health checkups during the pandemic and clinical impact of COVID-19 in children with neuromuscular disease

Introduction. Children with neuromuscular disease (NMD) require chronic health care (CHC) and may develop severe COVID-19. Objectives. To describe CHC for children with NMD during the pandemic and the course of COVID-19 in this group.Population and methods. Prospective, single-center cohort. Patients aged 2 to 18 years with >= 1 year of follow-up prior to the pandemic were included. Demographic variables in relation to CHC and COVID-19 were collected from medical records and via telephone surveys. Results. A total of 226 patients with a median age of 11.3 years were included; 71% were males. They had muscular dystrophy (55.7%) and spinal muscular atrophy (23%). When comparing the first year of the pandemic with the previous year, 30% did not have a health checkup and 25% did not receive kinesiotherapy. Others did, but with a lower frequency.A total of 52 COVID-19 cases were reported; 82% were symptomatic: 88.4% were mild/moderate and 11.6%, severe. No patient died.Conclusions. The pandemic had a negative impact on CHC, and COVID-19 cases were mostly mild.