The effect of covid-19 outbreak on epidemiological pattern of pediatric physical trauma

Abstract

Traumatic injuries in children, especially fractures, are among the most common cases of referrals to emergency departments. So, nearly one-third of all children experience at least one fracture before the age of 17. Considering the coronavirus pandemic that has led to the creation of quarantine, it seems that the current situation can affect the number of referrals and the epidemiological pattern of children's traumatic injuries. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiological pattern of physical trauma in children. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the files of all children under 18 years of age referred to the emergency department of Imam Reza Hospital were examined. The information was collected from March 2018 to March 2022. From each file, information related to the type of trauma, gender, age, and anatomical location of trauma and death due to trauma, the mechanism of transporting the patient to the emergency room, the place of occurrence, the season of the event, and the outcome after 24 hours of follow-up were collected. Finally, the patient's information was compared before and after the pandemic (each part corresponding to 2 years), and the epidemiological changes and trauma mechanisms were investigated. Results: In this study, considering the number of referrals in the pre-Covid group, there were 624 referrals (62.4%) and 376 referrals (37.6%) in the post-Covid group. In both the pre- and post-COVID eras, the highest frequency of physical trauma among children is related to the age group of 7 to 13 years (40.9% and 35.9%, respectively). Before COVID, 66.8% of children, and after COVID, 67.8% of them were male. The highest frequency of physical trauma in children was related to public places with a frequency of 33.2%, followed by school with a frequency of 30.3%. On the other hand, in the time of COVID-19, the highest frequency of physical trauma in children was related to home, with a frequency of 35.1%, and then school, with a frequency of 23.7% (p=0.012).