Characterizing pediatric emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine 2021-03, Vol.41, p.201-204
• Main Authors: Pines, Jesse M., Zocchi, Mark S., Black, Bernard S., Carlson, Jestin N., Celedon, Pablo, Moghtaderi, Ali, Venkat, Arvind
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Ambulatory Care Facilities - statistics & numerical data; Appendicitis; Child; Children; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Emergency medical care; Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Facilities and Services Utilization; Female; Hospitals, Pediatric - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Pandemics; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Pediatrics; Public health; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.11.037

We determine how pediatric emergency department (ED) visits changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large sample of U.S. EDs. Using retrospective data from January–June 2020, compared to a similar 2019 period, we calculated weekly 2020–2019 ratios of Non-COVID-19 ED visits for adults and children (age 18 years or less) by age range. Outcomes were pediatric ED visit rates before and after the onset of pandemic, by age, disposition, and diagnosis. We included data from 2,213,828 visits to 144 EDs and 4 urgent care centers in 18 U.S. states, including 7 EDs in children's hospitals. During the pandemic period, adult non-COVID-19 visits declined to 60% of 2019 volumes and then partially recovered but remained below 2019 levels through June 2020. Pediatric visits declined even more sharply, with peak declines through the week of April 15 of 74% for children age