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

Kambouri, Katerina; Skarentzos, Konstantinos; Οικονόμου, Παναγούλα; Papachristou, Eirini; Aggelidou, Maria

doi:10.7759/cureus.17543

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Among our representative sample, 39.3% of the parents stated that the number of accidents in their home increased, and 37.1% of households faced a serious or minor accident. Similar results were found in another study in Greece and in other countries in which there was a comparison of indoor accidents in children in the 3-month period during the lockdown versus the same period in 2019 [ 17 , 18 , 24 , 25 ]. The most frequent accidents in our study were injuries (49.3%), followed by falls (29.6%), which is similar to another study [ 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Due to mandatory lockdowns in almost every country, school and extracurricular activity closures, social distancing policies, isolation periods, etc., parents and children were forced to spend much more time at home, resulting in an increase in child home injuries [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. The characteristics of unintentional childhood injury during the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement may be different from those before the pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is It Safe to Stay at Home? Parents’ Perceptions of Child Home Injuries during the COVID-19 Lockdown

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home regulations have increased child home injuries. This study illustrates the type and frequency of child home injuries in Greece during the COVID-19 lockdown. Moreover, the survey reports the results on parents’ proposals regarding child injuries at home during the COVID-19 quarantine. A community-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from November to December 2021 in Greece. Parents were asked to voluntarily complete an anonymous questionnaire, designed for the needs of the research. A statistical analysis of the data was performed using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests for a normal distribution, a chi-squared (χ2) test to compare percentages among different groups and a non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test to determine the differences in Likert scale variables between two groups. A total of 130 parents with at least one child were questioned through an online questionnaire survey. Of the parents, 39.3%, stated that the number of accidents in their home increased. The most frequent accidents were injuries (49.3%). Most of the accidents occurred inside the house (75.8%) and were observed among children aged 0–4 years. A high percentage of children’s accidents was observed in rural/island areas or in the suburbs. Children who were with either their father or mother had one accident, and a higher number of accidents occurred when the children were with their grandparents, with the nanny or alone. For those parents who had difficulty supervising their child, child accidents increased compared to parents who had the ability to supervise. It was noticed that parents who knew how to provide a safe home stated that the number of accidents remained the same. Parents must organize a safer home. Authorities should educate parents on child injury prevention and provide them with financial facilities to provide a safer house.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is It Safe to Stay at Home? Parents’ Perceptions of Child Home Injuries during the COVID-19 Lockdown

et al. 2022

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“…Meanwhile, there was no difference in the number of patients in each department in the resuscitation area between the two periods either. However, other reports [ 25 , 26 ] have shown a significant reduction in emergency department visits during the pandemic, particularly for patients with cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The main reason for reducing emergency department visits is that these patients are frightened by the risk of contagion [ 27 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Department length of stay for urgent and life-threatening patients

Guo

Qin

et al. 2022

BMC Health Serv Res

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Objectives To determine the impact of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the length of stay (LOS) and prognosis of patients in the resuscitation area. Methods A retrospective analysis of case data of patients in the resuscitation area during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (January 15, 2020– January 14, 2021) was performed and compared with the pre-COVID-19 period (January 15, 2019 – January 14, 2020) in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. The patients’ information, including age, sex, length of stay, and death, was collected. The Wilcoxon Rank sum test was performed to compare the LOS difference between the two periods. Fisher's Exact test and Chi-Squared test were used to analyze the prognosis of patients. The LOS and prognosis in different departments of the resuscitation area (emergency internal medicine, emergency surgery, emergency neurology, and other departments) were further analyzed. Results Of the total 8278 patients, 4159 (50.24%) were enrolled in the COVID-19 pandemic period group, and 4119 (49.76%) were enrolled pre-COVID-19 period group. The length of stay was prolonged significantly in the COVID-19 period compared with the pre-COVID-19 period (13h VS 9.8h, p < 0.001). The LOS in the COVID-19 period was prolonged in both emergency internal medicine (15.3h VS 11.3h, p < 0.001) and emergency surgery (8.7h VS 4.9h, p < 0.001) but not in emergency neurology or other emergency departments. There was no significant difference in mortality between the two cohorts (4.8% VS 5.3%, p = 0.341). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in the length of resuscitation area stay, which may lead to resuscitation area crowding. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients of different departments was variable. There was no significant impact on the LOS of emergency neurology. According to different departments of the resuscitation area, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t significantly impact the prognosis of patients.

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled families to live in isolation and quarantine, which is likely to affect the well-being of children [16]. During this period with mandatory quarantine in most countries, school and other activity closures, social isolation policies, etc., parents and children spent much more time at home, resulting in an increase in pediatric domestic injuries [17][18][19][20][21]. However, according to the findings of our study, 58.6% of all parents stated that they were not concerned about the possibility of an increased risk of the child having an accident in the house during the quarantine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Parental Home Safety Practices for Domestic Accident Prevention: How Prepared Were Parents for COVID-19 Confinement? A Cross-Sectional Study

Papachristou,

Deftereos,

Asimakidou

et al. 2023

Clinics and Practice

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(1) Background: Children are susceptible to home injuries. How prepared parents were to protect their children from accidents before and during the COVID-19 quarantine is uncertain. (2) Methods: We conducted a community-based, cross-sectional study in Greece between November and December 2021. We asked parents to complete an anonymous questionnaire voluntarily. Questions focused on accident-preventive measures taken at home during the COVID-19 quarantine. (3) Results: A greater proportion of parents took protective measures for a safer home before the lockdown than during the quarantine, while an interesting percentage of parents never utilized preventive measures for their children. Slightly more than half (58.6%) of parents did not seem to worry about a possible increase in domestic accidents during the quarantine. It was observed that those who had one or two children took more protective measures than those with more than two children. Older parents seemed to explain to their children how to access emergency services more often. Mothers stayed at home with the children more often, and their education affected the presence of some of the assessed measures. In our logistic regression modeling, parental concern about accidents was more related to the incidence of an accident during the pandemic and attendance at seminars. (4) Conclusions: Although the COVID-19 lockdowns disorganized family life, parents were aware of the importance of their parenting role in creating a safe environment for children, but according to the study, there is room for improvement.

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

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Is It Safe to Stay at Home? Parents’ Perceptions of Child Home Injuries during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Is It Safe to Stay at Home? Parents’ Perceptions of Child Home Injuries during the COVID-19 Lockdown

The impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Department length of stay for urgent and life-threatening patients

Parental Home Safety Practices for Domestic Accident Prevention: How Prepared Were Parents for COVID-19 Confinement? A Cross-Sectional Study

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