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 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

SUBMITTER: Barbiellini Amidei C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8567132 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature