Purpose: to assess the pandemic-related differences in the prevalence of diagnosed genetic conditions (GC) in children (0-17 years) and their healthcare access and utilization in the US Methodology: Using the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data, we compared pre-pandemic (2016-2019) and pandemic (2020-2022) prevalence estimates for diagnosed GC, healthcare utilization (HCU), and unmet health needs (UHN). The prevalence ratios (PR) of HCU and UHN during versus pre-pandemic for different groups were compared using interaction models, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and race-ethnicity. Results: Pre-pandemic, GC prevalence was 3.55% rising to 4.51% during the pandemic [PR = 1.27 (1.18, 1.37), p < 0.001]. Pre-pandemic, children with GC had higher HCU [PR = 1.148 (1.129, 1.167), p < 0.001] and UHN [PR = 2.701 (2.225, 3.278), p < 0.001] as compared to children without GC. For children with GC, there was a decrease in HCU [PR = 0.954 (0.931, 0.978), p < 0.001], however, UHN was similar [PR = 1.112 (0.882, 1.402), p = 0.37] during versus pre-pandemic. Conclusion: The prevalence of diagnosed GC increased and disparities in UHN for children with GC persisted during the pandemic.

KV would like to disclose that she served as the Speakers Bureau of Global Blood Therapeutics for Oxbryta- a Sickle cell Modifying therapy till April 2022. There are no other conflicts of interest among the authors of this manuscript.

This study did not receive any funding

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