The impact of COVID-19 on patterns of burns evaluated in pediatric emergency departments.

BACKGROUND

Fire- and burn-related injuries are among the top 10 causes of death for children < 18 years in the United States and are associated with significant morbidity. Data regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric burns in emergency department (ED) settings are limited.

OBJECTIVE

To examine differences in pediatric burn-related injury patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This is a subanalysis of a multi-center cross-sectional study of 741,418 injury-related visits to 40 pediatric EDs for children < 18 years. Burn visits were identified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes. Patient demographics and burn-related injury patterns for 3/17/2019-12/31/2019 (control period) vs. 3/15/2020-12/31/2020 (pandemic study period) were compared.

RESULTS

Burn-related visits comprised 2.2 % (N = 12,908) of all injury visits. In 2020 there were 3.7 % fewer burn visits, but the proportion of burn visits relative to other injuries was higher (2.5 % vs. 2.0 %, p < 0.001). There were significant differences in burn visits in 2020 by race (p < 0.05) and ethnicity (p = 0.01), with higher proportions of White and non-Hispanic patients. There were significant differences in the geographic distribution of burn visits in 2020 (p < 0.001) and significantly higher proportions of more urgent triage levels (p <0.05) and trauma activations (p < 0.05). Body region affected (p < 0.01), intent (p < 0.001) and mechanism (p < 0.001) also differed significantly. A higher proportion were due to flames/fires and fewer due to hot objects.

CONCLUSIONS

Burns comprised a higher proportion of injury-related ED visits during the pandemic, with significant differences in patient demographics and injury patterns. These results can inform burn prevention education.