Impact of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup on PED Use and Misuse Patterns

The Impact of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup During Winter Epidemics on Paediatric Emergency Department Use and Misuse Patterns: a Multicentre, Retrospective, Population-based Study

A retrospective cohort study to explore the impact of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar on paediatric emergency department attendance at two tertiary centres during unprecedent winter viral epidemics.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Emergencies; Pediatric ALL; Epidemic Disease; Electronic Medical Record
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: NO intervention

Detailed Description

Earlier studies have reported contradictory relationship between major sporting events and paediatric emergency department attendance. None were conducted during an epidemic surge. The FIFA football World Cup 2022 was held for the first time in its history during the winter period in the northern hemisphere during unprecedented cumulative waves of respiratory syncitial virus (RSV), influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemics.

This study aims to measure the impact of such a global major sporting events on the pattern of paediatric emergency department use and hospital admissions during a peak epidemic season in 2 tertiary hospitals. The study hypothesis was that major sporting events, even during an epidemic peak, can reduce the number of paediatric emergency department visits compared with periods without a sporting event. Major sporting events could serve as a model for identifying human behaviours and patterns leading to paediatric emergency department misuse, in order to develop public health interventions to better rationalise health-seeking behaviours.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 18000

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Geneva, Switzerland
    • Geneva Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All patients under 16 years of age with medical, surgical and traumatology emergencies attending each pediatric emergency department during the study period will be included. This also includes transfer cases from other hospitals, as well as those who leave prematurely without being seen.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• all patients

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
All participants; Data from electronic medical records of all patients under 16 years of age with medical, surgical and traumatology emergencies attending the paediatric emergency departments during the study period	Other: NO intervention; NO intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
PED visits	Retrospective analysis of number of PED visits (counts).	Institutional electronic medical records analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Triage acuity score	Retrospective analysis of number of PED visits (counts) by triage acuity score (coded using the 5-level Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (from level 1 [resuscitation] to level 5 [nonurgent]).	Institutional electronic medical records analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
Chief complaint	Retrospective analysis of number of PED visits (counts) by chief complaints.	Institutional electronic medical records analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
Main diagnosis	Retrospective analysis of number of PED visits (counts) by main diagnosis (coded using the International Classification of Primary Care, 2nd edition [ICPC-2], and International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision [ICD-10-GM]).	Institutional electronic medical records analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
Audience	Daily television and online media audience collected by the independent, multi-platform Swiss national foundation for media research (Mediapulse AG, Bern, Switzerland).	Analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
RSV incidence	RSV-incidence estimates among children will be obtained from the anonymised Swiss RSV EpiCH multicentre database. RSV testing uses reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction or rapid antigen test at the point of care.	Analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
Influenza incidence	Influenza-incidence among children visiting the PED during the study period will be obtained from the institutional electronic medical records. RSV testing on nasopharyngeal swabs uses reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction at the point of care.	Analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 incidence	SARS-CoV-2-incidence among children visiting the PED during the study period will be obtained from the institutional electronic medical records. SARS-CoV-2 testing on nasopharyngeal swabs uses reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction at the point of care.	Analysed retrospectively from October 1st, 2022 to December 31, 2022

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Pediatric Clinical Research Platform
• Collaborators: University of Lausanne Hospitals
• Investigators: Study Director: Johan N Siebert, MD, Geneva Children's Hospital, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 20, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): January 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 5, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 5, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): April 18, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 18, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 5, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Pediatrics; Influenza, Human; Sports; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses; Epidemics; Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Emergency Service Hospital
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual Participant Data will be deidentified and the study investigators will house the data locally on secured servers at the Geneva University Hospitals. The datasets used or analysed during the current trial will be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Only deidentified/anonymised data will be shared.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Available from 6 month to 5 years after trial publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data will be made available from the corresponding author upon approval of a proposal and with a signed data access agreement.; Data will be made available for a specified research purpose.; The request proposal must include a statistician.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No