Pediatric Emergency Department Visits Declined During Early Pandemic Months – While Trauma Related to Recreational Activities Rose: Prepublished Study

During the first three months of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic, a children’s hospital emergency department observed an unusual increase in trauma cases related to recreational and outdoor activities -- while overall all-cause emergency department visit numbers went down 50%, according to a prepublished study in Hospital Pediatrics. The study, “Changes in Pediatric Emergency Department Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” offered online-only in the April 2021 Hospital Pediatrics (prepublished online Jan. 12) was a 3-year retrospective study from 2018-2020 at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The researchers evaluated the numbers of children 18 years and younger who presented to the emergency department for acute respiratory illnesses or trauma in March, April, and May 2020, during which the “Safer-at-Home” mandate was implemented in Tennessee. They found 6,393 total pediatric emergency department visits occurred in 2020, compared to 11,758 in 2018 and 12,138 in 2019, during the same 3-month timeframe. In 2020, the total number of acute respiratory visits declined by 58%, while a significant increase was reported in the number and proportion of trauma-related to recreational vehicle activities such as all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles. At the same time, intentional trauma cases including abuse, suicide, assault and homicide declined significantly. Similarly, animal-related injuries declined nearly 2-fold. Together, these findings suggest better in-home supervision. This study is a prepublication version of an article that has undergone peer review and been accepted for publication but is not the final version of record.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.