The impact of COVID-19 on the patterns of emergency department visits among pediatric patients.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the patterns of pediatric patients visiting emergency departments (EDs) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the interactive effect between the COVID-19 outbreak and age groups.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study using the nationwide emergency patient database in Korea from January 2019 to December 2020. Pediatric patients (≤18 years) who visited all 402 nationwide EDs were included. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rates of pediatric ED visits per 1,000,000 person-days were calculated, and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) was calculated. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of in-hospital mortality were calculated by a multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Among 2,

SUBMITTER: Kim S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8820089 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature