Paediatric domestic accidents during COVID‐19 pandemic in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background With school closures and social isolation imposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic, both children and parents in Hong Kong have been forced to stay at home for extended periods of time. Besides the disease itself growing globally, this pandemic has inflicted many other healthcare problems. This study aims to look at the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on paediatric surgical accidents. Methods A retrospective review of all patients under 18 years of age admitted to a tertiary paediatric surgical unit with accidents was done between January to May 2020 (COVID‐19 social isolation period). Comparison was made with cases between January to May 2018 and 2019. Inclusion diagnoses include foreign body ingestion (FBI), scald injury, animal bite, and fall. Demographic data including age and gender, details of injury and treatment, and length of hospitalization were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed by Fisher exact test and statistical significance was defined as P ≤ .05. Results A total of 35 patients were admitted during the period 1‐5/2020 compared to 28 patients in 1‐5/2019 and 16 patients in 1‐5/2018. Median age at presentation is 3 years. Diagnoses include FBI, animal bite, scald injury and fall. Thirteen required surgical intervention including oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (20%), wound debridement (13%), wound suturing (67%). Mean length of hospital stay was 2.89 days. The proportion of domestic accidents in 2020 increased compared with the same period in 2018 and 2019 (P‐values = .0001, .0259). Non‐food foreign body ingestions at home during COVID19 increased significantly (P‐values = .0018, .0223). Surgical intervention required for domestic accidents in 2020 also increased (P‐values = .1223, .107). Conclusion The social isolation imposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic has caused an increase in paediatric domestic accidents requiring admission to our surgical ward. Governments and healthcare authorities should proactively implement appropriate intervention programs and better plan resources to prevent these domestic accidents during lockdown.

Reduction in Pediatric Surgery’s Emergency Department Visits During COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary University General Hospital in Greece

“…Thus, the increased rates of domestic accidents could be attributed to the fact that children spent more time at home, and in trying to play and run in a limited space, they were more prone to accidents. Our data were also consistent with a similar study conducted in Hong Kong, where domestic accidents presenting to the Pediatric Emergency Department increased significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to the previous year [8].…”

“…Moreover, people may have avoided seeking medical assistance for other diseases in hospitals because of the fear of contracting COVID-19. While some studies have referred to a reduction of adult visits to the emergency department (ED) unit, there are only sporadic studies on the behavior of the pediatric population [2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Pediatric Emergency Department Visits Related to Home Accident in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Similarly, it was reported that the proportion of domestic accidents in a tertiary pediatric surgical unit increased during the pandemic compared with two previous years. 13 Also, a study of extremity fractures in children and adults reported an increment of home accidents among injury mechanisms during pandemics. 14 Another main finding of our study was increased percentage of poisoning and FBI during both curfew periods.…”

Análise epidemiológica de óbitos infantis por causas externas em Sergipe nos anos de 2015 a 2020

“…Apesar de ainda configurar-se uma causa preocupante de morte infantil, o número de mortes relacionadas a causas externas esteve em queda entre 2015 e 2019, com leve aumento no ano de 2020. Essa elevação pode decorrer-se do aumento da exposição das crianças ao ambiente domiciliar durante o confinamento na pandemia pelo novo coronavírus, o que propicia uma maior exposição aos riscos ambientais, ao tempo em que a vigilância pode ter sido diminuída associada ao home office dos familiares, o que coloca os acidentes domésticos como efeito colateral da pandemia (Silva et al, 2020;Bressan et al, 2021) Outros trabalhos também evidenciaram aumento da incidência de acidentes infantis durante a pandemia, não só no Brasil, já que a Academia Nacional de Medicina da França também destacou a elevação da notificação desses agravos no mesmo período (Wong et al, 2021;Sabino & Pinto, 2020).…”