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Emergency department visits for pediatric traumatic injuries during general confinement: A single-center study in an
G Rougereau1, R Guedj2, S Irtan3
1Department of pediatric orthopedics, Armand-Trousseau hospital, Sorbonne university, 26, avenue du Dr-Arnold-Netter, 75012 Paris, France.
Insights
French COVID-19 confinement significantly reduced pediatric emergency visits for traumatic injuries, except for burns. These findings highlight the impact of lockdowns on child injury rates and inform future public health strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The first case of SARS-CoV-2 in France led to a national lockdown from March 17 to May 11, 2020.
- This study investigated the impact of this confinement period on pediatric emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for traumatic injuries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the incidence of pediatric emergency visits and hospitalizations for traumatic injuries during the French COVID-19 national confinement.
- To compare injury rates during confinement with pre-confinement periods and previous years.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of pediatric ED visits with ICD-10 codes for burns, fractures, traumatic wounds, or sprains/bruises.
- Data collected for weeks 10-19 in 2020 (confinement) and compared with the same weeks in 2018 and 2019.
- Calculated average daily visits and hospitalizations for each diagnosis category.
Main Results:
- Total pediatric visits for traumatic injuries decreased significantly during confinement (1106 in 2020 vs. 2657 in 2018, 2625 in 2019).
- Average daily visits dropped from 38-39 in 2018/2019 to 13 in 2020 (P<0.0001).
- Hospitalizations also decreased significantly (1.6/day vs. 2.6/day, P<0.0001), with the exception of burns.
Conclusions:
- Child confinement in urban settings reduced the incidence of most traumatic injuries, but not burns.
- Findings suggest a need to reassess caregiver supervision strategies and hospital resource allocation.
- Further multicenter studies are recommended to validate these observations.
Background:
The first case of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in France in January 2020 and the government decided on national confinement from March 17 to May 11, 2020. Our aim was to analyze the incidence of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for traumatic injuries during this period.
Methods:
Any visit with an ICD-10 discharge diagnosis code of burn, fracture, traumatic wound, or sprain/bruise contusion was recorded within the 2 weeks before (weeks 10 and 11) and during the confinement (weeks 12 and 19). The visits with the same ICD-10 discharge diagnosis code during similar weeks of the previous 2 years were also included. For each of those visits, the number of hospitalizations was counted.
Results:
The number of recorded visits between week 10 and 19 in 2018, 2019, and 2020 was, respectively, 2657, 2625, and 1106 children. The average number of visits per day during the confinement (13±5) was significantly different from the average number of visits per day during the same weeks in 2018 and 2019 (38±8 vs. 39±9, P<0.0001). The average number of visits per day was significantly lower during confinement compared with 2018/2019 for three categories of diagnoses (P<0.0001) but not for burns (1.7 vs. 1.8, P=0.23). The average number of hospitalizations per day was significantly lower during the confinement than during 2018/2019 (1.6±1.3 vs. 2.6±1.8, P<0.0001).
Conclusion:
Confining children in an urban setting appears to decrease the incidence of injuries, except for burns. These data may be useful in reorganizing caregiver supervision and hospital units. These results will need to be consolidated in a multicenter study.
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