Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world in terms of health, social life, and economics. In this study, the frequency of pediatric home accidents in the second wave of the pandemic, where social isolation continues, was investigated.
Material and Methods: This is a single center, retrospective study. We evaluated cases of patients under the age of 18 who were admitted to the hospital due to a home accident between November 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021 (the second wave of the pandemic). Results were compared with the patients who were admitted to the same emergency department within the same period of the previous year. Researchers examined home accidents in three groups: crash-fall-incision (1), intoxication-foreign body ingestion (2), and burns (3). The patients were divided into four age groups: 0-1 year, 2-5 years, 6-11 years, and 12-17 years.
Results: The study was completed with 607 cases pre-Covid and 683 cases post-Covid. The median age was 44.4 month (17-57) from 2019-2020 and 49.1 month (18-64) from 2020-2021 (p=0.154). The outpatient and sequela-free discharges were more frequent in both periods (p=0.046). In the second wave of the pandemic, there was an increase in burns and fall related admissions compared to before the pandemic (p<0.001). All types of home accidents were frequently detected at the ages of five years and younger.
Conclusion: In this study, analyzing the second wave of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic times, Researchers noted a decrease in the number of emergency admissions and an increase in admissions related to home accidents.