Vol. 23 No. 1 (2026)
Research Article

Injury-related pediatric emergency department visits during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic

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  • Emilie Groulx-Boivin,
  • Francesca del Giorgio,
  • Jocelyn Gravel,
  • Antonio D’Angelo,
  • Olivier Drouin
Emilie Groulx-Boivin
Montreal Children’s Hospital
Francesca del Giorgio
McGill University
Jocelyn Gravel
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Antonio D’Angelo
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Olivier Drouin
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Pediatrics, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Université de Montréal, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26443/mjm.v23i1.1077

Published 2026-10-15

Keywords

  • COVID-19,
  • Emergency Department,
  • Injuries,
  • Pediatric,
  • Trauma

How to Cite

1.
Groulx-Boivin E, del Giorgio F, Gravel J, D’Angelo A, Drouin O. Injury-related pediatric emergency department visits during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. McGill J Med [Internet]. 2026 Oct. 15 [cited 2026 Oct. 16];23(1). Available from: https://mjm.mcgill.ca/article/view/1077

Copyright (c) 2026 Emilie Groulx-Boivin, Francesca del Giorgio, Jocelyn Gravel, Antonio D’Angelo, Olivier Drouin

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Objectives: To quantify the impact of COVID-19 and public health measures on pediatric injury-related Emergency Department (ED) visits during the first two years of the pandemic.

Methods: Retrospective longitudinal study assessing changes in monthly incidence of injury-related ED visits during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-February 2022) at a large Canadian tertiary pediatric hospital. Monthly fluctuations were assessed overall and by age categories (0-4, 5-11, 12-17 years). Secular time-trends and seasonality were accounted for by modelling the pre-pandemic trend using a 4-year historical control (April 2016-February 2020). We examined the impact of confinement periods (March-May 2020, October 2020-February 2021, December 2021-January 2022) on monthly fluctuations.

Results: Injury-related pediatric ED visits reached a low (-45%) in March 2020 (Incidence Risk Ratio (IRR): 0.55; 95% CI 0.50-0.61) and a peak (+30%) in January 2021 (IRR: 1.30; 95% CI 1.20-1.41) relative to historical controls. All three confinement periods coincided with a reduction in injury-related ED visits, and a re-increase once confinement ended. Fluctuations in injury-related ED visits differed between age groups, with no major change among 0-4-year-olds, a 56% reduction in visits at the onset of the pandemic among 5-11-year-olds (IRR: 0.44; 95% CI 0.37-0.54) and a 64% reduction among 12-17-year-olds (IRR: 0.36; 95% CI 0.28-0.45).

Conclusions: The consequences of COVID-19 on pediatric injury extended far beyond the first few months of the pandemic and varied according to age. Understanding the impact of confinement on pediatric injury may assist the development of injury prevention strategies and improve resource allocation.

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