KMID : 1037620230100030087
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Pediatric Emergency Medicine Journal 2023 Volume.10 No. 3 p.87 ~ p.93
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Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on pediatric poisoning in a single emergency department in Korea
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Shin Jae-Uk
Kwak Sae-Jeung Yun Sung-Hyun
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Abstract
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Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic-related changes in epidemiological features of pediatric patients with poisoning who visited a local emergency medical center in Incheon, Korea.
Methods: We reviewed medical records of the patients (aged ¡Â 18 years) who visited the emergency department (ED) from 2015 through 2022 and obtained discharge diagnoses containing ¡°intoxication¡± or ¡°poisoning,¡± excluding food allergy and game addiction. Time of visit was categorized as pre-pandemic (2015-2019) and pandemic (2020-2022) periods. They were investigated for age, age groups (children [0-9 years] vs. adolescents [10-18 years]), sex, visits during weekend or holiday, exposure-to-ED time, psychiatric history, intentionality, alcohol consumption, substances, therapeutic interventions, and outcomes.
The outcomes included need for hospitalization and discharge against medical advice.
Results: Among a total of 358 patients with poisoning, 162 (45.3%) visited during the pandemic period, and 220 (61.5%) were adolescents. Compared to the patients who visited during the pre-pandemic period, those who visited during the pandemic period showed significantly higher frequencies of girls (45.9% vs. 81.5%), age of 10-18 years (46.4% vs. 79.6%), intentionality (33.7% vs. 74.7%), alcohol consumption (4.1% vs. 11.7%), need for hospitalization (24.5% vs. 62.3%), and discharge against medical advice (3.1% vs. 25.9%).
Conclusion: In the ED, pediatric poisoning became more intentional, female and adolescent-dominant, and severe in their outcomes during the pandemic.
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KEYWORD
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Adolescent, Age Groups, Child, COVID-19, Emergency Service, Hospital, Poisoning
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