@article{ref1,
title="Pediatric injury trends in Rhode Island during the COVID-19 pandemic",
journal="Rhode Island medical journal (2013)",
year="2024",
author="Savarino, Jeffrey R. and Hanson, Holly R. and Pomerantz, Wendy J. and Zonfrillo, Mark R. and Formica, Margaret K. and Ruest, Stephanie M.",
volume="107",
number="4",
pages="23-28",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) visits nationally decreased while the proportion of injury-related PED visits increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the trends in Rhode Island (RI). <br><br>METHODS: This is a planned sub-analysis of RI data from a retrospective study of pediatric injury-related visits to 40 PEDs for children <18 years old from January 2019-December 2020. We calculated frequencies and compared patient demographics, injury types, severity, and mechanisms for 3/17/2019-12/31/2019 (pre-COVID-19) versus 3/15/2020-12/31/2020 (study period). <br><br>RESULTS: Despite a 31.4% decrease in total injury-related PED visits from 2019 to 2020, the proportion of injury-related PED visits increased by 8.1% (p<0.001) in 2020. The mean age of patients decreased from 8.3 (SD 5.4) to 7.7 (SD 5.4) years old (p<0.0001), with a higher proportion of female (p=0.0018), privately insured (p=0.0274), and non-Hispanic White children (p<0.001) in 2020. There was a higher proportion of trauma activations, admissions, and injuries caused by intentional self-harm (all p<0.0001). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: In RI, the total number of injury-related PED visits decreased while the proportion of injury-related PED visits increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, similar to national trends. There were significant demographic, mechanism, and intent shifts among injured patients, highlighting epidemiologic changes during the pandemic and identifying high-risk groups that would benefit from targeted education and interventions.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2327-2228",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}