TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - The effect of national public health measures on the characteristics of trauma presentations to a busy paediatric emergency service in Ireland: a longitudinal observational study
JO  - Irish journal of medical science
A1  - Gilmartin, Stephen
A1  - Barrett, Michael
A1  - Bennett, Michael
A1  - Begley, Cliona
A1  - Chroinin, Chantelle Ni
A1  - O'Toole, Patrick
A1  - Blackburn, Carol
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and government-enforced restrictions have impacted medical practices. AIMS: The aim of our study was to investigate the impact SARS-CoV-2 and public health restrictions had on trauma presentations to a regional paediatric emergency service. <br><br>METHODS: We carried out a multisite retrospective longitudinal study of all paediatric ED attendances from 2018 including 13 March to 7 June 2020. This aligned with the initial government-enforced public health phases: delay phase, mitigation phase and reopening phase 1. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 7975 total regional attendances during government-enforced restrictions. This represents 17.5% and 15.6% reductions in site attendances when compared with the two previous years. Regional attendances reduced by 52.5% in 2020 compared with 2018 and 50.9% compared with 2019. Following an initial reduction in injury attendances at the beginning of the 'lockdown' (p = 0.076), the number of injuries consistently grew as weeks progressed (p < 0.05), reaching a peak of 44.6% of all attendances. As restrictions eased, the most common location where injuries occurred moved to areas outside the home (p < 0.000). There was a significant change in injury type, final disposition and device-associated injury (p < 0.05). Wheeled recreational devices were associated with over 20% of all injuries by reopening phase 1. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that total attendances and total injuries reduced during initial phases of the lockdown. This was followed by a significant increase in injury presentations, which reached a peak of 44.6% of all attendances. We identified potential modifiable characteristics of paediatric trauma which can be addressed by future public health strategies.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0021-1265
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02593-4
ID  - ref1
ER  -