Evaluation of patient profile applying to the pediatric emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic

Evaluation of patient profile applying to the pediatric emergency department during the COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, which has a worldwide impact and is accepted as a pandemic as of March 2020, has also shown one of its social effects on hospital admissions and the outcome and costs of patients. In the study, it was aimed to examine the possible change in the patient profile in the pediatric emergency service of a university hospital that provides third-level service during the pandemic process, to compare this with the prepandemic situation, and to determine the data that guides the infrastructure and service delivery planning of the pediatric emergency services in epidemic situations with similar characteristics with the results of the study. This study retrospectively evaluated the demographic, clinical findings, physical examinations, laboratory and imaging findings, outcomes, and costs of patients who applied to the Pediatric Emergency Service of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine in 7 days within 3 months, randomly determined between 01.01.2019 and 31.12.2020. were compared and analyzed. Of the 2823 patients included in the study, 54% (n=1551) were male, with a median age of 96 months (minimum 1-maximum 216 months). While there were 1863 applications in 2019, a 50% decrease was observed in 2020. There was chronic disease in 30% of the patients who applied during the pandemic and only 15% before the pandemic. The most common complaints were fever and cough in both periods (36.5% and 23.1%). While the red triage category application of the patients was 6% before the pandemic, this rate reached 10.7% during the pandemic period. Coagulation parameters and the rate of CT requests increased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic period. The rate of positive COVID-19–PCR sample detection was 1% (n=10). While the average cost was 104.35 TL ($ 15.57) during the pandemic period, it was calculated as 62.31 TL ($ 12.65) in the pre-pandemic period. The most influential factor in the cost of the emergency department was the application of the intervention and the request for a radiological examination. 71 When the applications made in the Pediatric Emergency Department in March-June-September 2019-2020 are examined, it is seen that the pandemic period increases the hospitalization rate and cost per patient. Knowing the financial burdens and service delivery changes that pandemics and possible natural disasters will bring to hospitals facilitates early diagnosis and treatment in children with rapid management and planned follow-up of the process. Keywords: Pediatric emergency department, COVID-19 PCR, cost