Pediatric admissions to emergency departments of North-Western Italy during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective observational study

Background COVID-19 pandemic caused huge decrease of pediatric admissions to Emergency Department (ED), arising concerns about possible delays in diagnosis and treatment of severe disorders.Methods Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Emergency Room (ICOPER) was a retrospective multicentre observational study including 23 Italian EDs.All the children Findings 16,426 children were admitted in 2020, compared to 55,643 in 2019 (-70·48%). Higher reduction was reported in hospitals without Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) (-73·38%) than in those with PICU (-64·08%) (PPPP = 0·2344).Interpretation Admissions with low priority decreased significantly more than those with high priority; we suppose that the fear of being infected in hospital maybe overcame the concerns of caregivers. Compared to 2019, no significant referral delay by caregivers was reported. Our data suggest the need of adaptation of EDs and primary care services to different needs of children during COVID-9 pandemic.