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One-year changes in the pediatric emergency department caused by prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

Woori Bae1, Arum Choi2, Kyunghoon Kim1

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Pediatrics International : Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society
|October 4, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric emergency department visits decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for infectious diseases. However, the severity of cases seen in the pediatric emergency department has increased, requiring long-term adaptation.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted healthcare systems globally.
  • Understanding changes in pediatric emergency department (PED) utilization is crucial for operational planning.
  • This study addresses the long-term effects of the pandemic on PED visits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of pediatric emergency department visits.
  • To analyze changes in patient characteristics and visit trends before and during the pandemic.
  • To inform strategies for pediatric emergency care management post-pandemic.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective observational study of six hospital PEDs.
  • Data collected from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2020.
  • Comparison of patient visit characteristics pre-pandemic versus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Results:

  • A 54.2% decrease in total PED visits was observed post-COVID-19 onset compared to the prior 3-year average.
  • Weekly PED visits declined by 11.9 visits/week, with a concurrent 0.21% weekly increase in high-acuity patients.
  • The proportion of infectious respiratory diseases significantly decreased in 2020 (16.3%) compared to previous years (25.9%-28.6%).

Conclusions:

  • PED visits, especially for infectious diseases, have declined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A trend of increasing disease severity among pediatric patients presenting to the ED was noted.
  • Adaptations in pediatric emergency care are necessary to address the evolving characteristics of patient visits long-term.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19childemergency departmentrespiratory disease

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