COVID-19 & the Pied Piper Effect on Pediatric Emergency Department Attendances - A Single-Center Study Based in the UAE.

Introduction: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID 19) is an ongoing pandemic that brought significant changes in the healthcare sector, including healthcare-seeking behaviours, population movement, and daily activities. The COVID 19 has significantly affected the influx of paediatric patients attending the emergency department at a tertiary hospital level. This paper aims to measure and study the magnitude and reasons behind the reducing number of children attendances. COVID-19 compares with the disappearing number of children attending PED's to Pied Piper of Hamelin, attracting kids away from their homes as in our old bedtime stories.Methods: Our paper is a single-centre, retrospective, observational study in the Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) and data obtained from Electronic Medical Records and ED Dashboard. We included all paediatric patients who registered in our PED during April, May, and June over three years (2018, 2019, and 2020), including their level of triage and rate of admissions.Results: The total attendance and the number of admissions dropped dramatically in 2020 compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019. The number of attendances dropped from 10880 in 2018 and 11889 in 2019 to only 4621 in 2020. However, the percentages of category 1 and 2 patients increased in 2020 compared to the previous years.Conclusion: In conclusion, the pandemic dramatically affected the PED visits by decreasing the number of patient attendances. In addition, it also reduced the access to several children in need of essential emergency department services.&nbsp