Updated rapid review shows that children with brain-based developmental disabilities at greater risk of severe COVID-19

Concerned with the potential impact of COVID-19 on children with brain-based developmental disabilities, our network conducted a rapid review with the SPOR Evidence Alliance earlier this year to better assess the risk to children with brain-based developmental disabilities, or those at-risk of developing such diseases.

Today, we are sharing an update to this review.

As a reminder, our review aimed to answer the following three research questions:

  1. Are children with brain-based developmental disabilities more likely to develop COVID-19?

  2. Are children with brain-based developmental disabilities more likely to develop complications due to COVID-19? And,

  3. Are children with brain-based developmental disabilities more likely to have a poorer prognosis once they develop COVID-19?

Back in May 2020, we concluded that data regarding this population was insufficient to properly inform policy makers, decision makers, as well as families. Read the May 2020 report.

In our updated review, shared today and linked below, we now see that children with brain-based developmental disabilities are at greater risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease. The mortality is very low in children overall, but the mortality rate appears to be higher in children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities.

This is in line with what we are also noting in studies comparing person with disabilities who were hospitalized or living in care homes, compared to others living in the same conditions. There is a significant increased risk of death or severe complications for persons with disabilities.

What next steps do we recommend?

Based on these results, we are putting forward two key recommendations:

  1. We must engage Canadian brain-based development disability organizations and families to both design methods for ongoing reporting about the occurrence and impact of COVID-19, and to ensure that health, education, social programs and supports take into account the specific needs of children with brain-based developmental disabilities and their families as the pandemic evolves.

  2. On the policy front, we recently asked Canadian policy makers to prioritize vaccinations in children with brain-based developmental disabilities, given their greater risk for severe complications. Read our opinion piece below:

This review was funded by the CHILD-BRIGHT Network and the SPOR Evidence Alliance. Both networks are supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research under Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Initiative.

We wish to acknowledge and thank the panel of knowledge users from our network who contributed to this study including patient-partners, caregivers, clinicians, decision makers and researchers. They contributed to all steps of the project including developing the questions, doing literature searches, interpreting and drafting the results, and working to disseminate the findings.

Read about other CHILD-BRIGHT COVID-19 Initiatives:
My COVID Disability Q. , an online Q&A hub in partnership with CanChild and Kids Brain Health Network
and
CHILD-BRIGHT COVID-19 list of resources