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Emergency department utilisation by vulnerable paediatric populations during the COVID-19 pandemic

John A Cheek1,2,3, Simon S Craig4,5, Adam West4,5

  • 1Emergency Department, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Emergency Medicine Australasia : EMA
|July 25, 2020
PubMed

Insights

During the COVID-19 pandemic, paediatric emergency department (ED) attendances decreased overall, but mental health and neonatal cases increased, suggesting vulnerable children sought care elsewhere due to service disruptions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant disruptions in community-based health services.
  • Changes in service availability may have impacted healthcare-seeking behaviors for pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effect of altered community services on pediatric emergency department (ED) attendances.
  • To analyze trends in ED visits for mental health issues and neonates during the pandemic.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of total ED presentations, mental health diagnoses, and neonatal presentations.
  • Data collected from four hospitals in Victoria, comparing early pandemic stages with the previous year (2019).

Main Results:

  • A 47.2% decrease in overall pediatric ED presentations was observed.
  • A 35% increase in mental health diagnoses and a 2% increase in neonatal presentations occurred during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

  • Disruptions to community services during the pandemic appear to have displaced vulnerable pediatric patients.
  • Increased ED attendances for mental health and neonatal issues suggest unmet needs and a shift in care-seeking patterns.
Abstract

Keywords:
delivery of healthcarepaediatric emergency medicinepandemics

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