Articles: pandemics.
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2023
ReviewEpidemiology of Injuries to Early Adolescents from Family Violence Evaluated in an Urban Pediatric Emergency Department.
Exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence increases the risk for experiencing or perpetrating future violence. Social distancing protocols combined with reduction in access to youth/family services during the COVID-19 pandemic may have intensified the risk of exposure to familial violence. ⋯ More than half of violence-related injuries treated in the ED in this population resulted from family violence. Family violence is a prevalent and possibly underrecognized cause of injuries during adolescence. Further research should explore the potential of the ED as a setting for preventive interventions.
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The COVID-19 public health emergency created unprecedented disruptions in the use of healthcare services, which could have affected long-standing racial‒ethnic disparities in maternal care use and outcomes. This study evaluates population-level changes in perinatal health services associated with the COVID-19 pandemic overall and by maternal race‒ethnicity. ⋯ Among all U.S. live births, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with modest overall changes in perinatal care, with differential changes by maternal race‒ethnicity. Differential changes in perinatal services may have implications for racial-ethnic maternal health disparities.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented socioeconomic and health impacts in the U.S. This study examined racial/ethnic and school poverty status differences in the relationship between parent job loss, experiences with hunger, and indicators of mental health problems among public high-school students nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Students who experience parent job loss and hunger are likely to also experience poor mental health and may be at higher risk for suicide.
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People who smoke are at increased risk of serious COVID-19-related disease but have had reduced access to cessation treatment during the pandemic. This study tested 2 approaches to promoting quitline services to Medicaid members who smoke at high rates: using COVID-19-specific messaging and offering free nicotine patches. The hypotheses were that both would increase enrollment. ⋯ In a Medicaid mailing during COVID-19, offering free patches generated more than 6 times as many quitline enrollments as offering generic help. COVID-19-specific messaging was no more effective than generic messaging. Offering free patches was highly cost-effective. Medicaid programs partnering with quitlines should consider using similar strategies, especially during a pandemic when regular health care is disrupted.