Impact of Pandemic of Presentation to Emergency Department and Admissions

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Observational study assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on presentations and admission to hospital in children and young adults.

Detailed Description
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on healthcare utilisation and delivery for children and young adults. This is despite these groups experiencing minimal morbidity and almost no mortality as a direct result of the pandemic. The immediate impact of the first lockdown in April 2020 has been well documented. A number of studies show a marked reduction in presentations of children and young adults to the emergency department. The question is now, are these trends continuing and are they particularly impacting on specific groups and on specific presentations? With these data, services can be modified to minimise any potential for deleterious effects. It may also be possible to target groups who are not utilising health services as the investigators would expect. The investigators will use fully anonymised routine data on presentations and admission of 0 to 24 years olds to University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Data will be graphed to show trends in activity before and after the start of the pandemic. An interrupted time series regression analysis will be used to assess the significance of any changes in trends.

Official Title
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Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Department Attendances and Admissions in Southampton for Children and Young Adults

Conditions
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Emergencies

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: COVID-19 pandemic


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Children and young adults aged 0 to 24 years Presented +/- admitted to the emergency department at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust between the 1st of April 2016 and 31st of March 2021 Exclusion Criteria: None

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 0 Years
Maximum Age: 24 Hours

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Other: COVID-19 pandemic|Study focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency attendances and admissions.|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attendance in emergency department or paediatric assessment unit | Attendance at the emergency department in Southampton defined as being booked onto the emergency department admission system. | 5 years from April 2016 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emergency admission to hospital | Admission to University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust defined as being in hospital for more than four hours. Participants will be divided into the same subgroups as per attendances. | 5 years from April 2016 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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emergencies, children, adolescents, young adult