INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL DISTANCING DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN EMERGENCY ATTENDANCE AND HOSPITALIZATIONS IN PEDIATRICS

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, André Ricardo Araújo da
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Leal, Izabel Alves, Gonçalves, Fernanda Martins, Setti, Renata Ferreira, Tavares, Maria Christina, Souza, Cristina Vieira, Nascimento, Eliana, Carvalho, Liege Maria Abreu de, Teixeira, Cristiane Henriques
• Tipo de documento: preprint
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: SciELO Preprints
• Texto Completo: https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/preprint/view/364
• topic: Infecções por Coronavírus; pediatria; emergências; hospitais com alto volume de atendimentos; Coronavirus infection; pediatrics; emergencies; Hospitals; High Volume

The aim of this article is to compare number of attendances to pediatric emergencies and hospital admissions, considering a period time in which measures of social distancing and restriction or urban mobility were in course, with the same period in previous years to the pandemic. We performed a case-series study in two pediatric emergencies and hospital admission between 16th March and 16th April 2020 (first month of social distancing in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil). Data were compared with the same period, in the two previous years, using Analysis of variance (ANOVA). A p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.  The number of attendances in the Unit A and B, respectively, were 6.579 and 1.538 in 2018; 5.750 and 1.430 in 2019 and 1.762 and 375 in 2020. The number of hospital admissions in the Unit A and B, respectively, were 823 and 199 in 2018; of 721 and 188 in 2019; and 325 and 135 in 2020. In both units, there was a statistically significant reduction of attendances and hospitals admissions when 2020 year was compared with the two previous years (p>0.0001). Relative percentage of acute respiratory diseases and influenza-like illness was 36.7%, 36.5% and 29.2%, respectively in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in the Unit A; and 25.9%, 24.2% and 24.5%, respectively for the same years, in the Unit B. We concluded that there was a statistically significant reduction of attendances and hospitals admissions in the pediatric emergencies evaluated, being the results attributed to social distancing and restriction of urban mobility during the period studied.