Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study

Abstract Background COVID-19 pandemic has stretched healthcare system capacities worldwide and deterred people from seeking medical support at Emergency Departments (ED). Nevertheless, population-based studies examining the consequences on children are lacking. Methods All ED visits from 2019 to 202...

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Autores principales:	Claudio Barbiellini Amidei, Alessandra Buja, Andrea Bardin, Filippo Bonaldi, Matteo Paganini, Mariagiovanna Manfredi, Andrea Favaro, Vincenzo Baldo, Mario Saia, Liviana Da Dalt
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Pandemic Children Emergency department Access to healthcare services COVID-19 Pediatrics RJ1-570
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/73ddbc22e0cc402aafb4263ef0740c53
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:73ddbc22e0cc402aafb4263ef0740c532021-11-08T11:17:53ZPediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study10.1186/s13052-021-01168-41824-7288https://doaj.org/article/73ddbc22e0cc402aafb4263ef0740c532021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-01168-4https://doaj.org/toc/1824-7288Abstract Background COVID-19 pandemic has stretched healthcare system capacities worldwide and deterred people from seeking medical support at Emergency Departments (ED). Nevertheless, population-based studies examining the consequences on children are lacking. Methods All ED visits from 2019 to 2020 in Veneto, Italy (4.9 million residents) were collected. Anonymized records of pediatric (≤14 years) ED visits included patient characteristics, arrival mode, triage code, clinical presentation, and discharge mode. Year-on-year variation of the main ED visit characteristics, and descriptive trends throughout the study period have been examined. Results Overall, 425,875 ED presentations were collected, 279,481 in 2019, and 146,394 in 2020 (− 48%), with a peak (− 79%) in March–April (first pandemic wave), and a second peak (below − 60%) in November–December (second pandemic wave). Burn or trauma, and fever were the two most common clinical presentations. Visits for nonurgent conditions underwent the strongest reduction during both pandemic waves, while urgent conditions reduced less sharply. ED arrival by ambulance was more common in 2020 (4.5%) than 2019 (3.5%), with a higher proportion of red triage codes (0.5%, and 0.4% respectively), and hospitalizations following ED discharge (9.1%, and 5.9% respectively). Conclusion Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric ED presentations underwent a steeper reduction than that observed for adults. Lockdown and fear of contagion in hospital-based services likely deterred parents from seeking medical support for their children. Given COVID-19 could become endemic, it is imperative that public health experts guarantee unhindered access to medical support for urgent, and less urgent health conditions, while minimizing infectious disease risks, to prevent children from suffering direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic.Claudio Barbiellini AmideiAlessandra BujaAndrea BardinFilippo BonaldiMatteo PaganiniMariagiovanna ManfrediAndrea FavaroVincenzo BaldoMario SaiaLiviana Da DaltBMCarticlePandemicChildrenEmergency departmentAccess to healthcare servicesCOVID-19PediatricsRJ1-570ENItalian Journal of Pediatrics, Vol 47, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Pandemic Children Emergency department Access to healthcare services COVID-19 Pediatrics RJ1-570
spellingShingle	Pandemic Children Emergency department Access to healthcare services COVID-19 Pediatrics RJ1-570 Claudio Barbiellini Amidei Alessandra Buja Andrea Bardin Filippo Bonaldi Matteo Paganini Mariagiovanna Manfredi Andrea Favaro Vincenzo Baldo Mario Saia Liviana Da Dalt Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
description	Abstract Background COVID-19 pandemic has stretched healthcare system capacities worldwide and deterred people from seeking medical support at Emergency Departments (ED). Nevertheless, population-based studies examining the consequences on children are lacking. Methods All ED visits from 2019 to 2020 in Veneto, Italy (4.9 million residents) were collected. Anonymized records of pediatric (≤14 years) ED visits included patient characteristics, arrival mode, triage code, clinical presentation, and discharge mode. Year-on-year variation of the main ED visit characteristics, and descriptive trends throughout the study period have been examined. Results Overall, 425,875 ED presentations were collected, 279,481 in 2019, and 146,394 in 2020 (− 48%), with a peak (− 79%) in March–April (first pandemic wave), and a second peak (below − 60%) in November–December (second pandemic wave). Burn or trauma, and fever were the two most common clinical presentations. Visits for nonurgent conditions underwent the strongest reduction during both pandemic waves, while urgent conditions reduced less sharply. ED arrival by ambulance was more common in 2020 (4.5%) than 2019 (3.5%), with a higher proportion of red triage codes (0.5%, and 0.4% respectively), and hospitalizations following ED discharge (9.1%, and 5.9% respectively). Conclusion Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric ED presentations underwent a steeper reduction than that observed for adults. Lockdown and fear of contagion in hospital-based services likely deterred parents from seeking medical support for their children. Given COVID-19 could become endemic, it is imperative that public health experts guarantee unhindered access to medical support for urgent, and less urgent health conditions, while minimizing infectious disease risks, to prevent children from suffering direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic.
format	article
author	Claudio Barbiellini Amidei Alessandra Buja Andrea Bardin Filippo Bonaldi Matteo Paganini Mariagiovanna Manfredi Andrea Favaro Vincenzo Baldo Mario Saia Liviana Da Dalt
author_facet	Claudio Barbiellini Amidei Alessandra Buja Andrea Bardin Filippo Bonaldi Matteo Paganini Mariagiovanna Manfredi Andrea Favaro Vincenzo Baldo Mario Saia Liviana Da Dalt
author_sort	Claudio Barbiellini Amidei
title	Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
title_short	Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
title_full	Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
title_fullStr	Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
title_full_unstemmed	Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
title_sort	pediatric emergency department visits during the covid-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/73ddbc22e0cc402aafb4263ef0740c53
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Pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic: a large retrospective population-based study

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