A tale of two parts of Switzerland: regional differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents

BMC Public Health

Sergio Manzano¹  Julia Hoeffe²  Gianluca Gualco³  Michelle Seiler⁴  Georg Staubli⁴  Ran D. Goldman⁵ 

[1] Pediatric Emergency Department, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland;Pediatric Emergency Department, Inselspital University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;Pediatric Emergency Department, Pediatric Institute of Italian part of Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland;Pediatric Emergency Department, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland;The Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (PRETx) Program, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    Parental concern;    Switzerland;    Emergency department;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-11315-5

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWe aimed to document the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on regions within a European country.MethodsParents arriving at two pediatric emergency departments (EDs) in North of Switzerland and two in South of Switzerland completed an online survey during the first peak of the pandemic (April–June 2020). They were asked to rate their concern about their children or themselves having COVID-19.ResultsA total of 662 respondents completed the survey. Parents in the South were significantly more exposed to someone tested positive for COVID-19 than in the North (13.9 and 4.7%, respectively; P <  0.001). Parents in the South were much more concerned than in the North that they (mean 4.61 and 3.32, respectively; P <  0.001) or their child (mean 4.79 and 3.17, respectively; P <  0.001) had COVID-19. Parents reported their children wore facemasks significantly more often in the South than in the North (71.5 and 23.5%, respectively; P <  0.001).ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant regional differences among families arriving at EDs in Switzerland. Public health agencies should consider regional strategies, rather than country-wide guidelines, in future pandemics and for vaccination against COVID-19 for children.

【 授权许可】

CC BY