IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN MEASURES ON PEDIATRIC TRAUMA IN BRAZIL

Authors

  • Sophia Vettorazzo Valverde
  • Diogo Henrique Molina
  • Gilberto Luiz Leite Filho
  • Luiza Benites Castanho Martins
  • Muriel de Oliveira Carrara
  • Daniela Fernandes Notaro
  • Luciana Mendes Raimundo Perticarrari Osorio
  • Thiago da Silva Cornelio

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-031

Keywords:

Pediatric polytrauma, COVID-19, Lockdown, Epidemiology, Public health

Abstract

Pediatric polytrauma is one of the leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality and represents a relevant public health problem, and the lockdown measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly modified mobility and social dynamics, with a potential impact on the occurrence and severity of trauma in children. This nationwide observational, ecological, and retrospective study analyzes the impact of these measures on the epidemiological, clinical, and economic profile of hospitalizations for pediatric polytrauma in Brazil, between 2018 and 2023, based on data from the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (SIH/SUS). The effect of the lockdown was assessed through interrupted time series and segmented regression, considering the monthly intensity of restrictions by Federative Unit, with analyses stratified by trauma severity, age group, and sex. The results show an abrupt and statistically significant reduction in hospitalizations from March 2020 onward, followed by a progressive recovery to levels similar to those of the pre-pandemic period, with a heterogeneous impact according to sex, age group, and region and a greater initial reduction among boys and adolescents; a proportional increase in case severity is also observed, evidenced by the greater use of intensive care units. It is concluded that there was a relevant change in the pattern of hospitalizations for pediatric polytrauma, marked by an abrupt drop followed by a gradual recovery of care volumes, whose differences across sexes, age groups, and regions reinforce the need for healthcare planning sensitive to scenarios of social restriction and health crises.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amorim Baccarini Pires, C.; Ferreira, A. G.; Rangel, L. P.; Rodrigues, M. E. C. Abordagem terapêutica e manejo inicial do paciente pediátrico politraumatizado. Revista Foco, [s. l.], 2024.

Aquino, E. M. L.; Silveira, I. H.; Pescarini, J. M.; Aquino, R.; Souza-Filho, J. A.; Rocha, A. S. et al. Social distancing measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic: potential impacts and challenges in Brazil. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, Rio de Janeiro, v. 25, supl. 1, p. 2423-2446, 2020. DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232020256.1.10502020.

Bernal, José L.; Cummins, Steven; Gasparrini, Antonio. Interrupted time series regression for the evaluation of public health interventions: a tutorial. International Journal of Epidemiology, Oxford, v. 46, n. 1, p. 348-355, 2017. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyw098.

Bezerra, Anselmo César Vasconcelos et al. Fatores associados ao comportamento da população durante o isolamento social na pandemia de COVID-19. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, Rio de Janeiro, v. 25, supl. 1, p. 2411-2421, jun. 2020.

Bram, J. T.; Johnson, M. A.; Magee, L. C.; Mehta, N. N.; Fazal, F. Z.; Baldwin, K. D. et al. Where have all the fractures gone? The epidemiology of pediatric fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Philadelphia, v. 40, n. 8, p. 373-379, 2020.

BRASIL. Decreto Legislativo nº 6, de 20 de março de 2020. Reconhece, para os fins do art. 65 da Lei Complementar nº 101, de 4 de maio de 2000, a ocorrência do estado de calamidade pública, com efeitos até 31 de dezembro de 2020. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 2020.

BRASIL. Ministério da Saúde. Banco de dados do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do Sistema Único de Saúde (SIH/SUS). Brasília, DF: DATASUS, 2021. Disponível em: http://datasus.saude.gov.br. Acesso em: 15 dez. 2025.

BRASIL. Ministério da Saúde. Resolução nº 510, de 7 de abril de 2016. Dispõe sobre as normas aplicáveis a pesquisas em Ciências Humanas e Sociais. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 24 maio 2016.

Brooks, S. K.; Webster, R. K.; Smith, L. E.; Woodland, L.; Wessely, S.; Greenberg, N. et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, London, v. 395, p. 912-920, 2020.

Ciorba, M. C.; Maegele, M. Polytrauma in children — epidemiology, acute diagnostic evaluation, and treatment. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Berlin, v. 121, p. 291-297, 2024.

CIOMS. International ethical guidelines for health-related research involving humans. Geneva: Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences, 2016.

Drummond, Michael F. et al. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. 4. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Garcia, L. P.; Duarte, E. Intervenções não farmacológicas para o enfrentamento da epidemia da COVID-19 no Brasil. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, Brasília, v. 29, n. 2, e2020222, 2020.

Gomes, Romeu. Ações de gênero em saúde. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Fiocruz, 2013.

Haider, Adil H. et al. Epidemiology of trauma in the United States. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Philadelphia, v. 73, n. 6, p. S366-S372, 2012. DOI: 10.1097/TA.0b013e318275fcb3.

Hale, Thomas; Angrist, N.; Goldszmidt, R.; Kira, B.; Petherick, A.; Phillips, T. et al. A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker). Nature Human Behaviour, London, v. 5, n. 4, p. 529-538, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01079-8.

Lazzeroni, B. J.; Gonçalves, G. C.; Tonello, I. E. C.; Venturelli, L. H.; Joaquim, L. R.; Oliveira, M. C. M. Politrauma — epidemiologia e manejo inicial: uma revisão de literatura. In: Teoria e prática: trauma e emergência. 15. ed. São Paulo: Editora Científica, 2025. p. 83-90.

Lima, Carlos R. A.; Carvalho, Marília Sá; Coeli, Cláudia M. Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do SUS (SIH-SUS): uma avaliação da qualidade dos dados. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, v. 31, n. 1, p. 1-14, 2015. DOI: 10.1590/0102-311X00036214.

Lopez Bernal, José et al. Interrupted time series regression for the evaluation of public health interventions: a tutorial. International Journal of Epidemiology, Oxford, v. 47, n. 1, p. 1-11, 2018.

Malta, Deborah Carvalho et al. Internações hospitalares por causas externas no Brasil: análise das tendências pré e durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, São Paulo, v. 24, e210008, 2021.

Malta, D. C.; Szwarcwald, C. L.; Barros, M. B. A.; Gomes, C. S.; Machado, Í. E.; Souza Júnior, P. R. B. et al. A pandemia da COVID-19 e as mudanças no estilo de vida dos brasileiros. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, Brasília, v. 30, n. 1, e2020407, 2021.

McKinney, Wes. Data structures for statistical computing in Python. In: Proceedings of the 9th Python in Science Conference. Austin: SciPy, 2010. p. 51-56.

Mendes, Maria Fátima et al. Uso do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares (SIH/SUS) para vigilância epidemiológica e avaliação de serviços de saúde. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, Brasília, DF, v. 27, n. 1, e2017118, 2018. DOI: 10.5123/S1679-49742018000100008.

Newey, Whitney K.; West, Kenneth D. A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix. Econometrica, New York, v. 55, n. 3, p. 703-708, 1987. DOI: 10.2307/1913610.

Paes-Sousa, Rômulo et al. As respostas do Governo Federal brasileiro à pandemia de COVID-19: entre o negacionismo e a proteção social. Global Public Health, [s. l.], v. 15, n. 11, p. 1601-1613, 2020.

Polinder, S.; Haagsma, J. A.; Lyons, R. A.; Gabbe, B. J.; Ameratunga, S.; Cryer, C. et al. Measuring the population burden of fatal and nonfatal injury. Epidemiologic Reviews, Baltimore, v. 34, p. 17-31, 2012.

Polinder, Suzanne et al. A systematic review of studies measuring health-related quality of life of general injury populations. BMC Public Health, London, v. 12, art. 151, 2012. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-151.

Reis, Carlos et al. Impacto da pandemia de COVID-19 na mobilidade urbana e na saúde pública: uma análise exploratória. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, v. 36, n. 11, 2020.

Ruzzini, L.; De Salvatore, S.; Lamberti, D.; Pica, G.; Minicucci, M.; Iorio, C. et al. COVID-19 lockdown effects on pediatric trauma. Injury, Oxford, v. 52, n. 2, p. 277-280, 2021.

Seabold, Skipper; Perktold, Josef. Statsmodels: econometric and statistical modeling with Python. In: Proceedings of the 9th Python in Science Conference. Austin: SciPy, 2010.

Silva, Gulnar Azevedo et al. O impacto da flexibilização do isolamento social na morbidade por causas externas: um estudo de série temporal. Revista de Saúde Pública, São Paulo, v. 55, n. 14, 2021.

Van Aerde, N.; Vanhaecht, K.; Deneckere, S.; Robben, P. Changes in pediatric major trauma epidemiology, injury patterns, and outcome during COVID-19-associated lockdown. Injury, Oxford, v. 53, n. 1, p. 1-8, 2022.

Wagner, Anita K. et al. Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series studies in medication use research. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Oxford, v. 27, n. 4, p. 299-309, 2002. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2710.2002.00430.x.

Wilkinson, Mark D. et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, London, v. 3, art. 160018, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2016.18.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems: ICD-10. 10. rev. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2014.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. WHO methods and data sources for child causes of death 2000-2013. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2014.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 — 11 March 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2020.

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA, Chicago, v. 310, n. 20, p. 2191-2194, 2013. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.281053.

Published

2026-06-23

How to Cite

Valverde, S. V. ., Molina, D. H. ., Leite Filho, G. L. ., Martins, L. B. C. ., Carrara, M. de O. ., Notaro, D. F. ., Osorio, L. M. R. P. ., & Cornelio, T. da S. . (2026). IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN MEASURES ON PEDIATRIC TRAUMA IN BRAZIL. South American Sciences, 6(2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-031

Most read articles by the same author(s)