Objective To determine if developmental outcomes differed at 24 months between US children born before and during the pandemic. Design This retrospective cohort study included children completing a 24-month well visit between 1 March 2019 and 31 December 2022. Setting : a university-affiliated primary care clinic Patients Children were born at term and divided into three cohorts: prepandemic (born on or after 14 January 2017 and before 1 March 2018), transitional (born on or after 1 March 2018 and before 1 March 2020), and pandemic (born on or after 1 March 2020 and before 1 January 2021). Main outcomes/measures Main outcomes included 24-month Ages p=0.01), with males more likely to have atypical scores for communication (2.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.0; p=0.03) and fine motor (2.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 5.0; p=0.04). For the transitional cohort, pandemic exposure was negatively associated with total ASQ-3 (p=0.048), communication (p=0.02) and personal-social (p=0.03). Conclusions Findings suggest a negative association of the COVID-19 pandemic with early child development, especially for emerging language and socioemotional skills, with males likely affected more than females.
Domek et al. (Sun,) studied this question.