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According to a study by the health insurance company DAK Gesundheit, girls seem to suffer significantly more mentally from the corona pandemic than boys.
For example, the number of 15- to 17-year-old girls treated for depression increased by 18 percent compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, the health insurance company said.
In 2019, 34 out of 1000 girls in this age group received this diagnosis for the first time, in 2021 it was 40 out of 1000. Among 10 to 14 year olds, almost 10 out of 1000 girls were affected for the first time in the year before the pandemic, in 2021 it was almost 12 , an increase of 23 percent.
In boys, on the other hand, the rate of new cases of depression fell by 17 percent in 10- to 14-year-olds (from 5.5 to 4.6 cases per 1000) and in 15- to 17-year-olds by 15 percent (from 14.3 to 12.1 cases per 1000).
A similar picture emerges for eating disorders and anxiety disorders: while the number of treatments has increased significantly for girls, it has fallen for boys.
Overall, however, the number of treated mental and behavioral disorders fell, reports the DAK.
According to the health insurance company, 272 out of 1000 children and adolescents had at least one visit to the doctor for such a health problem in 2019, compared to 259 out of 1000 in 2021.
For the children and young people report, scientists from the analysis company Vandage and the University of Bielefeld examined the accounting data of around 782,000 children and young people up to the age of 17 who are insured with DAK-Gesundheit.
The years 2018 to 2021 were examined. According to the DAK, around 3.3 million doctor visits, 3.3 million drug prescriptions and 88,000 hospital stays were included in the study in 2021 alone.
Fewer doctor contacts than before the pandemic
Overall, children and young people had fewer doctor contacts in the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 than in previous years.
»Between 2019 and 2021, the number of visits to the doctor for respiratory diseases as well as for infectious diseases, musculoskeletal diseases or mental and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents between 0 and 17 years decreased.
This decline is most evident in relation to infectious diseases, most marginally in relation to mental and behavioral disorders,” the report states.
This could be “due to a reduced burden of illness as well as a change in demand behavior”.
The good news is that the amount of antibiotics prescribed has fallen by more than 40 percent compared to 2019.
"The new data show a dramatic development in depression, anxiety and eating disorders," said the CEO of DAK-Gesundheit, Andreas Storm.
The affected children, young people and their parents should not be left alone with the problems.
wbr/dpa
