ArticleActa paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)2022
The first winter of social distancing improved most of the health indexes in a paediatric emergency department.
Article in Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of paediatric emergency department visits for attempted suicide, self-harm, and suicidal ideation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Trend of emergency department attendances for alcohol and substances intoxication in adolescents across the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter international study.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Children hospitalised with gastroenteritis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Urgent Hospitalizations Related to Viral Respiratory Disease in Children during Autumn and Winter Seasons 2022/2023.Viruses · 2023Article
- Suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents, the mental health wave of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A paediatric emergency department perspective.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- The first winter of social distancing improved most of the health indexes in a paediatric emergency department.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2022Article
- Pediatric Emergency Cases in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary-Level Emergency Setting.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimWe compared visits to a tertiary level paediatric emergency department (PED) in Italy, during winter 2020-2021, when COVID-19 social distancing measures were in place, with winter 2019-2020.
methodsThis was a retrospective analysis of an electronic database. We obtained the number of visits and the ages, main complaints, triage codes, discharge diagnoses and outcomes of patients who accessed the PED from the 1 October 2020 to 28 February 2021. These were compared to the same period in 2019-2021.
resultsVisits fell by 52%, from 10982 in 2019-2020 to 5317 in 2020-2021 (p < 0.0001). The reductions were 52% in neonates, 58% in infants, 53% in toddlers, 61% in preschool children, 48% in school children and 46% in adolescents. Non-urgent and urgent triage codes declined. Respiratory and gastrointestinal infections fell by 72% and 71% respectively. Injuries declined by 42%, mainly among adolescents. Accidental intoxication, psychiatric symptoms and substance or alcohol abuse declined by 24%, 33% and 64%. Hospital admissions reduced by 8% and admissions to intensive care fell by 29%.
conclusionDuring the first winter of pandemic social distancing visits to an Italian PED fell by 52%, with higher reductions in younger children and infants, and hospital admissions fell by 8%.
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