594 - Patterns in Child Health and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Public School Students in Chicago

Saturday, April 29, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 594
Publication Number: 594.223

Kristin Kan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Katherine Y. Wojcik, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Christopher M. Warren, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, chicago, IL, United States; Emma Wall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States; Liana F. Massey, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Ruchi Gupta, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Kristin Kan, MD, MPH, MSc (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered many public health mitigation efforts, including the change to remote instruction in schools nationally. Schools transitioned back to in-person instruction at varying timepoints geographically. In Chicago, remote instruction was implemented from spring 2020 through most of the 2020-2021 academic year. During this period, studies nationally reported low rates of socioemotional well-being among children. In partnership with the 4^th largest school district in the U.S., we examined whether there were changes in perceptions of child health and well-being during the pandemic.

Objective: To estimate and compare parent-reported child health and well-being between July-September 2021, when the previous academic year had been predominantly remote instruction, and January-February 2022, after a return to in-person instruction

Design/Methods: Two cross-sectional, online surveys (2021 n=1814, 2022 n=3743) were distributed to parents/caregivers of students enrolled in Chicago Public Schools through a weekly email by the school district. Questions assessed their children’s school experiences, well-being, and healthcare resources they have used. Descriptive analysis included Chi-squared tests comparing results between timepoints; two-sided p< 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Most children were in Pre-Kindergarten through 8^th grade in both surveys (83% in 2021, 78% in 2022), although more high school students were represented in the 2022 survey (p< 0.001). (Table 1) Parents surveyed in 2021 were more likely to report that their child had a trusted place in the community to get medical care (94%), compared to parents surveyed in 2022 (87%, p< 0.001). There were no significant differences in the percentage of parents expressing concern regarding their children’s learning in 2021 (51%) versus those surveyed in 2022 (50%). (Table 2) Parents surveyed in 2021 were less likely to report their children were happy (p=0.01) and more likely to report their children were lonely (p=0.04) or anxious (p=0.01) compared with those surveyed in 2022. (Table 3)

Conclusion(s):

This study provides a window into changing perceptions of parents across the present multi-year pandemic. Its evolving nature (e.g., peak of the omicron wave in January 2022) and resulting policies (e.g., mandatory quarantine for illness) makes it difficult to fully interpret these changing perceptions. However, efforts to capture parental perceptions are critical for designing and implementing policies and programs that support students and their families.