Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Pediatrics

.: ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Characteristics of Emergency Department Visits in a Tertiary Care Children's Hospital in Türkiye: Descriptive Study
COVID-19 Pandemisinin Türkiye'de Üçüncü Basamak Bir Çocuk Hastanesinde Acil Servis Ziyaret Özelliklerine Etkisi: Tanımlayıcı Çalışma
Nihan ŞIKa, Zeynep ÖLMEZb, Durgül YILMAZa, Murat DUMANa
aDivision of Pediatric Emergency Care, Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Türkiye
bDepartment of Pediatrics, Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Türkiye
Turkiye Klinikleri J Pediatr. 2022;31(2):85-92
doi: 10.5336/pediatr.2021-86998
Article Language: EN
Full Text
ABSTRACT
 Objective: To reveal how the coronavirus disease- 2019 pandemic has affected the characteristics of patient visits by comparing profiles in a pediatric emergency department (ED). Material and Methods: The period between March 11, 2020, and June 1, 2020, and the same timeframe in 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. For each day, the total number of ED visits was calculated. Patient gender, age, time of ED visit, triage priority, arrival characteristics, diagnostic codes, and hospital admissions for each day's visits were recorded and the proportion was calculated for each parameter. Results: During the study period, ED visits declined by 80.8% in comparison to the previous year. In terms of diagnoses, in 2020, there was a decrease in the mean daily number and proportion of patients diagnosed with infectious diseases (p<0.05). In terms of traumatic injuries, there was a decrease in the number of visits in 2020, but the overall rate had increased, being 14.7% in 2019 and 18.4% in 2020. There was a decrease in the rate of visitors with green codes (p<0.001), but there was an increase in yellow codes (p<0.001) and no difference in red codes (p= 0.980). The proportion of hospitalizations also increased while the total number declined (p<0.05). Conclusion: During the pandemic period, our pediatric ED experienced a significantly decreased volume of visitors presenting with low-acuity conditions. Understanding the frequency and distribution of ED visits can help shape public health preparedness policies such as healthcare planning to ensure the availability of resources.

Keywords: Child; COVID-19; emergency medicine; visit
ÖZET
 Amaç: Bu çalışmada, koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 pandemisinin çocuk acil servise başvuru özellikleri üzerindeki etkisinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlandı. Gereç ve Yöntemler: 11 Mart-1 Haziran 2020 tarihleri ile 2019 yılına ait aynı zaman periyodu incelendi. Her güne ait toplam acil servis başvuru sayısı hesaplandı. Hastaların cinsiyeti, yaşı, başvuru zamanı, triaj kategorisi, hastaneye ulaşım çeşidi, tanı kodları ile hastane yatışlarının sayısı ve toplam sayıya oranı kaydedildi. Bulgular: Çalışma süresi boyunca acil servis başvuru sayılarında bir önceki yıla göre %80,8 azalma saptandı. Hastaların tanıları değerlendirildiğinde, 2020 yılında enfeksiyöz hastalıklarda günlük ortalama hasta sayı ve oranlarında anlamlı azalma mevcuttu (p<0,05). Travmatik yaralanmalar açısından 2020 yılında başvuru sayısında azalma mevcuttu ancak genel oran artmıştı; 2019 yılında %14,7 olup, 2020 yılında ise %18,4 olarak hesaplandı. Yeşil triaj kodlu çocuk oranında düşüş saptanırken (p<0,001), sarı triaj kodlu hasta sayısında artış oldu (p<0,001); ancak kırmızı kodlu hasta sayısında fark yoktu (p= 0,980). Hastaneye yatırılan hasta sayısında, bir önceki yıla göre azalma saptandı; ancak hastaneye yatış oranlarında artış mevcuttu (p<0,05). Sonuç: Pandemi sürecinde, 1 yıl önceki döneme göre aciliyeti olmayan vaka ziyaretlerinde azalma saptandı. Acil servis başvurularının sıklığı ve dağılımının anlaşılması, kaynak kullanımı gibi halk sağlığı hizmet politikalarının yönlendirilmesine katkı sağlayabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Çocuk; COVID-19; acil tıp; ziyaret
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