Background: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on evaluations in the pediatric emergency department (ED) because of headache as main symptom. Methods: Number and clinical features of patients evaluated in the pediatric ED of a single site in Milan,Italy, were collected between January 2017 and January 2022. The impact of COVID-19 on evaluation rates was quantified by using the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) between the pandemic (March 2020 to January 2022) and the prepandemic period (January 2017 to February 2020).
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
700
Pediatric Emergency Department Clinica de Marchi, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
Milan, Italy
During the study period, 890 evaluations were registered: the number of partecipants was 689 over the prepandemic period and 201 over the pandemic period. Mean age at evaluation was 10 years (range: 1 to 17 years).
Time frame: the pandemic (March 2020 to January 2022) and the prepandemic period (January 2017 to February 2020).
Evaluation rates per month were 18.1 during the prepandemic period and 8.7 during COVID-19 pandemic, with peaks in autumn and winter and drops in summer. The reduction in evaluation rate was higher for secondary headache when compared with primary one
Time frame: the pandemic (March 2020 to January 2022) and the prepandemic period (January 2017 to February 2020).
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