COVID-19 has not only impacted healthcare systems directly via hospitalizations and resource utilization, but also indirectly via adaptations in healthcare practice, such as the evolution of the academic environment and the rise of telemedicine and virtual education. This void in clinical responsibilities has been filled with academic productivity in various fields. In this study the authors investigate the influence of COVID-19 on the academic focus within pediatric neurosurgery.

All data were obtained from the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics (JNS Peds). The number of submissions for each month from January 2017 to December 2021 was collected. Data including number of publications, publication level of evidence (LOE), and COVID-19–related articles were collected and verified. Each publication was categorized by manuscript and LOE according to adaptations from the Canadian Task Force on Periodic Health Examination. Publication groups were categorized as pre–COVID-19 (January 2017–February 2020), peri–COVID-19 (March 2020–July 2020), and post–COVID-19 (August 2020–December 2021). Statistical analysis was performed to compare pre–COVID-19, peri–COVID-19, and post–COVID-19 academic volume and quality.

During the study time period, a total of 3116 submissions and 997 publications were identified for JNS Peds. Only 2 articles specifically related to COVID-19 and its impact on pediatric neurosurgery were identified, both published in 2021. When analyzing submission volume, a statistically significant increase was seen during the shutdown relative to pre–COVID-19 and post-shutdown time periods, and a significant decrease was seen post-shutdown relative to pre–COVID-19. LOE changed significantly as well. When comparing pre–COVID-19 versus post–COVID-19 articles, a statistically significant increase was identified only in level 4 publications. When analyzing pre–COVID-19 versus post–COVID-19 (2020) and post–COVID-19 (2021), a statistically significant decrease in level 3 and increases in levels 4 and 5 were identified during post–COVID-19 (2020), with a rebound increase in level 3 and a decrease in level 5 during post–COVID-19 (2021).

There was a significant increase in manuscript submission during the initial pandemic period. However, there was no change during subsequent spikes in COVID-19–related hospitalizations. Coincident with the initial surge in academic productivity, despite steady publication volume, was an inverse decline in quality as assessed by LOE.

COVID-19 不仅通过住院和资源利用直接影响医疗保健系统，还通过医疗保健实践的适应间接影响医疗保健系统，例如学术环境的演变以及远程医疗和虚拟教育的兴起。临床职责的这一空白已被各个领域的学术生产力所填补。在这项研究中，作者调查了 COVID-19 对儿科神经外科学术重点的影响。

所有数据均来自《神经外科杂志：儿科》（JNS Peds）。收集了 2017 年 1 月至 2021 年 12 月每个月的提交数量。收集并验证了包括出版物数量、发表证据级别 (LOE) 和 COVID-19 相关文章在内的数据。根据加拿大定期健康检查工作组的改编，每份出版物都按手稿和 LOE 进行分类。出版组分为 COVID-19 前（2017 年 1 月至 2020 年 2 月）、COVID-19 前（2020 年 3 月至 2020 年 7 月）和 COVID-19 后（2020 年 8 月至 2021 年 12 月）。进行了统计分析以比较 COVID-19 之前、COVID-19 期间和 COVID-19 之后的学术量和质量。

在研究期间，共为JNS Peds确定了 3116 份提交和 997 篇出版物. 仅确定了 2 篇专门与 COVID-19 及其对儿科神经外科影响相关的文章，均于 2021 年发表。在分析提交量时，相对于 COVID-19 之前和关闭后的时间段，在关闭期间发现有统计学意义的增加，与 COVID-19 之前相比，关闭后出现了显着下降。LOE 也发生了显着变化。在比较 COVID-19 之前与 COVID-19 之后的文章时，仅在 4 级出版物中发现了统计学上显着的增加。在分析 COVID-19 前与 COVID-19 后（2020 年）和 COVID-19 后（2021 年）时，在 COVID-19 后（2020 年）期间发现 3 级显着下降，4 级和 5 级上升)，在 COVID-19 后（2021 年）期间，第 3 级反弹增加，第 5 级下降。

在最初的大流行期间，投稿量显着增加。但是，在随后与 COVID-19 相关的住院人数激增期间没有变化。尽管出版量稳定，但与学术生产力最初的激增相吻合的是，LOE 评估的质量呈反向下降。