Injuries in the time of COVID-19. / Les blessures au temps de la COVID-19.
Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can
; 40(11-12): 336-341, 2020 12 09.
Article
in English, French
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1029022
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Research has shown that during the 2003 SARS pandemic, emergency department (ED) visits among the pediatric population decreased. We set out to investigate if this was also true for injury-related ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
Using data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP), we looked at 28 years of injury-related ED visits at the Montreal Children's Hospital, a provincially designated Pediatric Trauma Centre. We compared data from a two-month period during the COVID-19 lockdown (16 March to 15 May) to the same period in previous years (1993-2019) to determine whether the 2020 decrease in ED visit numbers was unprecedented (i.e. a similar decrease had never occurred) for different age groups, nature of injuries, mechanisms and severity.RESULTS:
The 2020 decrease was unprecedented across all age groups between 1993 and 2019. When compared with the 2015 to 2019 average, the decrease was smallest in children aged 2 to 5 years (a 35% decrease), and greatest in the group aged 12 to 17 years (83%). Motor vehicle collisions and sports-related injuries practically vanished during the COVID-19 lockdown. Surprisingly, more children aged 6 to 17 years presented with less urgent injuries during the COVID-19 lockdown than in previous years.CONCLUSION:
As was the case with SARS in 2003, COVID-19 acted as a deterrent for pediatric ED visits. The lockdown in particular had a profound impact on injury-related visits. The de-confinement period will be monitored to determine the impact in both the short and the long term.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Wounds and Injuries
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Infant, Newborn
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
/
French
Journal:
Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Hpcdp.40.11
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS