The impact of COVID-19 on the patterns of emergency department visits among pediatric patients

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the patterns of pediatric patients visiting emergency departments (EDs) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the interactive effect between the COVID-19 outbreak and age groups. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study using the nationwide emergency patient database in Korea from January 2019 to December 2020. Pediatric patients (≤18 years) who visited all 402 nationwide EDs were included. The age- and sex-standardized incidence rates of pediatric ED visits per 1,000,000 person-days were calculated, and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) was calculated. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of in-hospital mortality were calculated by a multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Among 2,808,756 patients, 1,835,045 (65.3%) patients visited before COVID-19, and 973,711 (34.7%) patients visited after the COVID-19 period. The standardized incidence rates of ED visits per 1,000,000 person-days were 589.3 in the before COVID-19 group and 326.9 in the after COVID-19 group (IRR (95% CI): 0.55 (0.53–0.58)). By diagnosis, the IRRs (95% CI) of mental health disorders (0.84 (0.42–1.65)) and self-harm or suicidal attempts (0.99 (0.38–2.59) were not significant, while the incidence rate of infectious disease was significantly decreased (0.48 (0.42–0.54)). The aOR (95% CI) of in-hospital mortality after COVID-19 was 1.58 (1.44–1.73) compared to that before COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of pediatric ED visits decreased, and these effects differed by age group. Age-specific policies are needed to ensure that children receive the care they need at the right time.