Association between school learning models and psychological and social health visits to the emergency room.
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open
; 5(2): e13157, 2024 Apr.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38634074
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
We aimed to assess the impact of in-person and distance school learning models on children's visits to the emergency department (ED) for psychological or social ("psychosocial") complaints.Methods:
We analyzed presentations to one emergency department in a mid-sized Midwestern city. We used the public school system schedule to determine in-person and distance learning periods by the grade level. We calculated the incidence of visits to the emergency department during academic years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021, with particular attention to the time after March 13, 2020, which was the pandemic period. We compared the incidence of visits during in-person versus distance learning school models.Results:
A total of 7181 visits occurred during the academic years studied, 17.1% due to psychosocial complaints. The incidence of psychosocial visits to the ED was lower during distance learning than during the pandemic in-person learning period (given per 1000 student years 20.5 vs. 24.1, p = 0.14). This difference was statistically significant among middle schoolers (23.3 vs. 46.6, p < 0.001). While not statistically significant, the difference among high schoolers was pragmatically relevant (38.2 vs. 49.3, p = 0.086).Conclusions:
Distance learning was associated with a decrease in the incidence of psychosocial visits to the emergency department relative to in-person learning. Future investigation is required to verify results and better understand any causative relationships.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos