121 - How did the COVID pandemic affect pediatric recreational injuries?
Sunday, April 24, 2022
3:30 PM – 6:00 PM US MT
Poster Number: 121 Publication Number: 121.329
Melissa Blumberg, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Wendy Pomerantz, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Mike Gittelman, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Resident Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, families increasingly turned to outdoor activities to socially distance. Recreational equipment sales rose significantly during this time. It is not clear how these changes impacted pediatric injuries.
Objective: To investigate changes in the incidence of pediatric emergency department (PED) visits related to outdoor recreational activities during the COVID-19 pandemic versus the preceding 5 years.
Design/Methods: This was a single center, retrospective chart review study conducted at a large free standing children’s hospital with a level 1 trauma center. Data were obtained from the PED electronic medical records. Children 5-14 years old with a PED visit from March 23-September 1 in years 2015-2020 with an ICD-10 code for injury associated with recreation and the use of common outdoor recreational equipment (playgrounds, bicycles, ATVs/motorbikes, skateboards/scooters/roller skates/blades, trampolines, and watercraft) were included. Pandemic year, 2020, was compared with the average of pre-pandemic years (2015-2019). Data collected included patient demographics, injury, and disposition. Descriptive statistics were used characterize the population. Chi squared analysis and ANOVA were used to determine relationships between groups.
Results: There were 29044 total injury visits during the study months of which 4712 (16.2%) were due to an included recreational injury. Of all study patients, 2771 (58.8%) were male, 3614 (76.6%) were white, 762 (16.2%) were black, 229 (4.9%) were Hispanic, 2668 (56.6%) had private insurance and 627 (13.3%) were admitted to the hospital. Before and during COVID, there were no differences in sex, ethnicity, or ED disposition. During COVID, there was a higher percentage of white patients and patients with commercial insurance injured than before COVID. The figure depicts the average number of ED visits in the years before COVID and during COVID. The types of recreational equipment used were significantly different pre- and during COVID with more injuries due to bicycles, ATV/motorbike, wheeled vehicles and fewer due to playground equipment and watercraft during COVID.Conclusion(s): The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted pediatrics recreational injuries. The increase in bicycle, ATV/motorbike, and non-motorized wheeled vehicle injuries is consistent with documented sale trends. Local closure of parks and limited travel during this time likely contributes to the decrease in playground and water equipment injuries. Further research is needed to determine future prevention efforts to curtail recreational injuries during a pandemic. Melissa Blumberg CVMelissa P Blumberg CV 2021.pdf PED visits related to recreational equipment by year