Intentional paediatric poisoning presentations to emergency departments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emerg Med Australas
; 35(4): 642-651, 2023 08.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36802109
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To characterise paediatric poisoning presentations to EDs and determine if the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased intentional paediatric poisoning presentations.METHODS:
We performed a retrospective analysis of paediatric poisoning presentations to three EDs (two regional and one metropolitan). Simple and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association between COVID-19 and intentional poisoning events. In addition, we calculated the frequency with which patients reported various psychosocial risk factors as being an implicating factor in engaging in an intentional poisoning event.RESULTS:
A total of 860 poisoning events met inclusion criteria during the study period (January 2018-October 2021), with 501 being intentional, and 359 unintentional. There was an increased proportion of intentional poisoning presentations during the COVID-19 pandemic (261 intentional and 218 unintentional in the pre-COVID-19 period vs 241 intentional and 140 unintentional during the COVID-19 period). In addition, we found a statistically significant association between intentional poisoning presentations and an initial COVID-19 lockdown (adjusted odds ratio 26.32, P < 0.05). 'The COVID-19 lockdown' or 'COVID-19' was reported to be implicating factor for psychological stress in patients who presented with intentional poisonings during the COVID-19 pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
Intentional paediatric poisoning presentations increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in our study population. These results may support an emerging body of evidence that the psychological strain of COVID-19 disproportionately impacts adolescent females.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Intoxicação
/
Comportamento Autodestrutivo
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Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
/
Pandemias
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
País como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article