Abstract
Children’s attendances in paediatric emergency departments have fallen precipitously in North East England and elsewhere in recent months. We analysed data from 3 hospitals to understand which children were not being brought during the COVID-19 ‘lockdown’. In our population there is no evidence of a disproportionate impact on children belonging to vulnerable sociodemographic groups and no obvious change in illness acuity among those children still attending. However we noted a marked reduction in infectious disease presentations which might reflect one positive impact of enhanced social distancing on child health. More granular data describing the ‘collateral damage’ of the COVID-19 pandemic to children’s clinical services are needed to plan for the mitigation of its continuing effects.
What is known on this topic
Presentations to paediatric emergency departments in Europe and the United States have reduced dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic ‘lockdown’.
What this paper adds box
This is the first paper to show that reduced attendance was proportionate across different deprivation and ethnicity groups.
We show that presentations of children with infectious diseases reduced more than those with other conditions or trauma.
There was no change in admission rates, taken as a broad indicator of illness acuity at presentation among the population still attending paediatric emergency departments.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
No external funding received.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Not required, service evaluation of routinely collected data
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
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Yes
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Yes
Data Availability
Available from corresponding author on reasonable request by scientific colleagues