The aim of this study was to evaluate the aetiology of chest pain, the demographic data of patients with chest pain, and the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on these variables.
Material and Method:The study included patients who presented with complaints of chest pain at a paediatric cardiology policlinic between November 2019 and August 2020. The patients were divided into two groups based on the date 11 March 2020, when restrictions to daily life were implemented because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Groups 1 and 2 included patients who presented with chest pain before and after that date, respectively.Results: Evaluations were made in 251 patients comprising 136 (54.2%) females and 115 (45.8%) males with a mean age of 11.6±2.9 years. The chest pain was felt most often in the precordial area (46.2%) as a needle pricking sensation (64.9%). The most causes of the chest pain were determined to be the musculoskeletal system (55%), psychogenic (16.3%), and idiopathic (13.5%), respectively. A cardiac aetiology was determined in 2.8% of the patients. Psychogenic reasons were more prevalent, and more patients had been referred by a physician and from rural areas,in Group 2 than Group 1 (p<0.05).
Conclusion:To prevent repeated policlinic presentations with non-cardiac chest pain, and unnecessary and lengthy tests, the concerns of families must be eliminated. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of children with chest pain of psychogenic cause has increased.