The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on paediatric emergency service

Abstract

Aims The aims of this research were to review patients visiting the paediatric emergency department over a 6‐month period 1 year before and during the pandemic, to review paediatric emergency department referral ratios and to determine whether there were any significant decreases in mortality and morbidity. Methods All patients from the ages of 0 to 18 years visiting the University of Health Sciences, Ankara Research and Training Hospital, paediatric emergency service from April‐October 2019 to April‐October 2020 with no missing information in their records were involved in this retrospective cross‐sectional study. Results The total number of paediatric emergency service consultations was 74 739; the number of emergency visits from April to October 2019 was 55 678, whereas it was 19 061 from April to October 2020 in the midst of the COVID‐19 pandemic period. There was a 67.7% decrease in consultations during the pandemic period. The mean age of participants from April to October 2019 was 8.11 ± 5.31 years, and 52.4% of cases were male. The mean age from April to October 2020 was 8.58 ± 5.93 years, and 51% of cases were male. COVID‐19‐related symptoms were higher during the pandemic period ( P < .05), with fever and gastroenteritis being the most frequently received diagnosis in both periods. During the pandemic period, the newborn consultation ratio was higher ( P > .05), there was a decrease in consultation ratios related to suicide attempts ( P < .05), and a threefold increase in death rates was observed ( P < .05). Conclusion In Turkey, where emergency consultation rates are quite high, these decreases look fearsome for secondary injuries that can develop in children. For this reason, families should be made aware of the importance of bringing their children to the hospital during emergencies, and that all necessary health precautions are being taken to decrease the spread of infection in hospitals.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric emergency admissions and tendency towards prescribing antibiotics

“…Pediatric emergency department visits fell more sharply than adult ED visits during the COVİD-19 pandemic. This finding is in line with the results of other relevant studies available in the literature [10,11,12]. The decrease in the number of pediatric emergency admissions for non-COVID-19 diseases was attributed to the fear of contracting COVID-19 from the hospital, that is, parents preferred not to bring their children to the hospital unless the condition of their children has aggravated [12,13,14].…”

“…This finding is in line with the results of other relevant studies available in the literature [10,11,12]. The decrease in the number of pediatric emergency admissions for non-COVID-19 diseases was attributed to the fear of contracting COVID-19 from the hospital, that is, parents preferred not to bring their children to the hospital unless the condition of their children has aggravated [12,13,14]. On the other hand this reduction was the result of a decreasing in infectious disease.…”

Suicide spectrum among young people during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…1 , 47 studies were included in the systematic review (study characteristics are reported in Table 1 ). 32 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 Among these studies, 43 were included in the meta-analytical process, for a total of around 65 million subjects (suicides: 63,120,235; suicidal behaviors: 934,951; suicidal ideation: 156,234): two reporting rates of deaths for suicides, 48 , 50 26 reporting prevalence data about suicidal behaviors 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 <...…”

Suicide and self-harm in low- and middle- income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

“…Evidence from the Europe and Central Asia region included data from Turkey (n = 3 studies), and the Russian Federation (n = 2) [1, [23][24][25][26]. There was only 1 reasonable quality study, and this was the only study which directly reported on the impact of COVID-19 on suicide risk [1].…”

“…admissions for self-harm changed during the pandemic, although there were 83% fewer presentations (Fig 3) [24].…”