• J. Am. Coll. Surg. · Apr 2022

    Effect of Quarantine and Reopening Measures on Pediatric Trauma Admissions During the 2019 SARS-CoV2 Virus Pandemic.

    • Lauren Gillory, Sarah Cairo, Steve Megison, Lori Vinson, Dai H Chung, and Mark L Ryan.
    • From the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Medical Center Dallas, Dallas, TX.
    • J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2022 Apr 1; 234 (4): 685-690.

    BackgroundSeveral studies have reported decreased trauma admissions and increased physical abuse in children resulting from stay-at-home measures. However, these studies have focused on a limited period after the implementation of lockdown policies. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of quarantine and reopening initiatives on admissions for varying types of injuries in pediatric patients.Study DesignRegistry data for an urban Level I pediatric trauma center were evaluated from April 1, 2018, to March 30, 2021. A timeline of local shutdown and reopening measures was established and used to partition the data into 6-month intervals. Data about demographics and injury characteristics were compared with similar intervals in 2018 and 2019 using appropriate statistical methodology for categorical, parametric, and nonparametric data.ResultsA total of 3,110 patients met criteria for inclusion. A total of 1,106 patients were admitted the year after the closure of schools and nonessential businesses. Decreases in overall admissions and evaluations for suspected child abuse noted early in the pandemic were not sustained during shutdown or reopening periods. However, we observed a 77% increase in all-terrain vehicle injuries, along with a 59% reduction in sports injuries (chi-square [8, N = 3,110] = 49.7; p < 0.001). Significant shifts in demographic and payor status were also noted.ConclusionsThis is the first study to comprehensively examine the effects of quarantine and reopening policies on admission patterns for a pediatric trauma center in a metropolitan area. Total admissions and child abuse evaluations were not impacted. If shutdown measures are re-instituted, preventative efforts should be directed towards ATV use and recreational activities.Copyright © 2022 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…