Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Emerg Med J. 2021 Feb;38(2):100-102. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2020-210124. Epub 2020 Dec 3.
Past epidemics, including influenza, have resulted in increased paediatric patient volume in EDs. During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unclear how ED volume would be impacted in paediatric hospitals. The objective of this study was to examine differences in the international experience of paediatric ED utilisation and disposition at five different children's hospitals.
We obtained data on ED volume, acuity level and disposition (hospitalisation and intensive care unit (ICU) admission) for the time period 1 December1-10 August for the years 2017-2020 from hospitals in five cities (Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Singapore; Melbourne, Australia; Seattle, Washington, USA; and Paris, France). Per cent change was analysed using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Overall ED volume dramatically decreased in all five hospitals during the early months of COVID-19 compared with prior years. There was a more varied response of decreases in ED volume by acuity level, hospitalisation and ICU admission among the five hospitals. The one exception was a 2% increase in ICU admissions in Paris. As of August 2020, all hospitals have demonstrated increases in ED volume; however, they are still below baseline.
Paediatric EDs in these five cities demonstrated differential decreases of ED volume by acuity and disposition during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
过去的流感等疫情导致急诊科儿科患者数量增加。在 COVID-19 大流行的早期，尚不清楚儿科医院的急诊科就诊量将受到何种影响。本研究旨在研究五家不同儿童医院在儿科急诊科就诊量和处置方面的国际经验差异。
我们从五个城市（美国马萨诸塞州波士顿、新加坡、澳大利亚墨尔本、美国华盛顿西雅图和法国巴黎）的五家医院获得了 2017 年至 2020 年 12 月 1 日至 8 月 10 日期间急诊科就诊量、疾病严重程度和处置（住院和重症监护病房 (ICU) 入院）的数据。采用配对 t 检验或 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验分析百分比变化。
与前几年相比，在 COVID-19 早期，所有五家医院的急诊科就诊量均大幅下降。在五个医院中，疾病严重程度、住院和 ICU 入院的急诊科就诊量下降的反应有所不同。唯一的例外是巴黎 ICU 入院人数增加了 2%。截至 2020 年 8 月，所有医院的急诊科就诊量均有所增加；然而，它们仍低于基线。
这五个城市的儿科急诊科在 COVID-19 大流行的早期，疾病严重程度和处置方面的急诊科就诊量存在差异。
