Table 1 Descriptive statistics of daily child hospitalizations, air pollutants, and meteorological factors in Suzhou, China, 2017–2022
Variables | Number of measurements n(%) | Mean (SD) | Min | Max | The COVID-19 phase | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre- pandemic n(%) | Post- pandemic n(%) | |||||
P | ||||||
Number of inpatients (n) | Â | |||||
Total | 13,408 | 6.17(2.66) | 1 | 24 | 6847(51.07) | 6561(48.93) |
Sex |  |  |  |  | P = 0.1806 | |
   Boys | 8017(59.79) | 3.82(1.90) | 1 | 13 | 4132(60.35) | 3885(59.21) |
   Girls | 5391(40.21) | 2.73(1.51) | 1 | 11 | 2715(39.65) | 2676(40.79) |
Age (years) |  | P < 0.0001 | ||||
   Infants and toddlers | 8650(64.51) | 4.06(2.07) | 1 | 21 | 4704(68.70) | 3946(60.14) |
   Preschool-age | 3125(23.31) | 2.03(1.25) | 1 | 8 | 1335(19.50) | 1790(27.28) |
   School-age | 1501(11.19) | 1.48(0.80) | 1 | 6 | 753(11.00) | 748(11.40) |
   Adolescents | 132(0.98) | 1.02(0.15) | 1 | 2 | 55(0.80) | 77(1.17) |
Season |  | P = 0.7415 | ||||
   Warm | 7867(58.67) | 6.17(2.59) | 1 | 18 | 4008(58.54) | 3859(58.82) |
   Cold | 5541(41.33) | 6.18(2.77) | 1 | 24 | 2839(41.46) | 2702(41.18) |
Air pollutant concentration | Â | |||||
   PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 2191 | 35.3 ± 24.1 | 3 | 225 | p < 0.0001 | |
   PM10 (µg/m³) | 2191 | 55.0 ± 30.8 | 8 | 275 | p < 0.0001 | |
   SO₂ (µg/m³) | 2191 | 7.5 ± 4.4 | 2 | 33 | p < 0.0001 | |
   NO₂ (µg/m³) | 2191 | 37.7 ± 18.7 | 3 | 121 | p < 0.0001 | |
   O₃(µg/m³) | 2191 | 101.1 ± 47.0 | 4 | 257 | P = 0.0032 | |
   CO (mg/m³) | 2191 | 0.7 ± 0.25 | 0.2 | 2.3 | P = 0.0007 | |
Meteorological factors | Â | |||||
   Mean Temperature (°C) | 2191 | 17.6 ± 8.8 | -4.6 | 35.2 | P = 0.5297 | |
   Relative humidity (%) | 2191 | 75.9 ± 10.6 | 38 | 97 | P = 0.6871 | |
   Atmospheric pressure (hpa) | 2191 | 1016.0 ± 9.3 | 987.2 | 1040.1 | P = 0.7845 | |