Prevalence and Causes of Injury in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A 5-Year Retrospective Study on COVID-19 Pandemic Impact.

Research Objectives: To identify and compare available statistics of the prevalence and causes of injury in children under 18 years old in Cyprus who have sustained Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) five years prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Retrospective Research Design.

Setting: Data were provided from the Limassol General Hospital’s (LGH) information system regarding brain injury-related Hospital Admissions (HA). LGH is the second largest hospital in Cyprus, providing medical services to 235000 inhabitants. It covers the city of Limassol, its district, and the district of Paphos for some specialties.

Participants: The study included 137 children (female=43; under 18 years old) with TBI admitted to the hospital due to different causes of injury in 2015-2019 (5 years prior pandemic) and in 2020 (during the pandemic peak).

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Number of HA, injury etiology, gender distribution.

Results: A total of 137 children hospitalized with a TBI were included in the analysis: 26 in 2015, 25 in 2016, 25 in 2017, 23 in 2018, 27 in 2019, and 11 in 2020. Average age prior to the pandemic was 4.62 (SD = 4.21) years and during the pandemic 6.77 (SD = 4.71) years. The incidence rate decreased by over 50% during the pandemic compared to the five years prior to the pandemic. Most causes of injury before and during COVID-19 pandemic were associated with falling from a height with 63.5% prior and 45.5% during the pandemic, followed by road traffic accidents with 18.3% and 36.4% respectively. Boys were at a higher risk to sustain a TBI as compared to girls before (67.5% boys versus 32.5% girls) and during COVID-19 pandemic (81.8% versus 18.2% respectively).

Conclusions: These findings indicate a reduction in TBI during the pandemic in Cyprus due to the strict lockdown and mobility restrictions implemented by the government. However, the main etiologies and risk factors remained the same, which include falls, and road traffic accidents. Boys continued to be at a higher risk for TBI than girls.

Author(s) Disclosures: None disclosed.