Decreased patient visits for ankle sprain during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea: A nationwide retrospective study.

Social distancing measures including school closure and the cancelation of sports activity were enforced during the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in South Korea. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nationwide burden of musculoskeletal injury in 2020, we analyzed data on the number of patient visits for ankle sprain in South Korea. We collected national reimbursement data on the number of patient visits for ankle sprain between August 2010 and July 2020. To quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of reductions in patient visits for ankle sprain, we developed a regression model adjusting for the annual cycle of the patient visit during 2016/17-2018/19. During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, the overall number of patient visits for ankle sprain dropped by 7.9%. The number of patient visits for ankle sprain substantially reduced by 23.4% among school-aged children (6-19 years) during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Our findings suggest that the social distancing measure has had a positive impact on reducing the burden of medical usages for ankle sprain.

Decreased Use of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic in South Korea.

BACKGROUND: Early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a concern over possible increase in antibiotic use due to coinfections among COVID-19 patients in the community. Here, we evaluate the changes in nationwide use of broad-spectrum antibiotics during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea. METHODS: We obtained national reimbursement data on the prescription of antibiotics, including penicillin with ß-lactamase inhibitors, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides. We examined the number of antibiotic prescriptions compared with the previous 3 years in the same period from August to July. To quantify the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on antibiotic use, we developed a regression model adjusting for changes of viral acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), which are an important factor driving antibiotic use. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea, the broad-spectrum antibiotic use dropped by 15%-55% compared to the previous 3 years. Overall reduction in antibiotic use adjusting for ARTIs was estimated to be 14%-30%, with a larger impact in children. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that broad-spectrum antibiotic use was substantially reduced during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea. This reduction can be in part due to reduced ARTIs as a result of stringent public health interventions including social distancing measures.

Self-Quarantine Noncompliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea.

OBJECTIVES: In South Korea, many individuals were self-quarantined for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after the quarantine criteria were extended to all overseas travelers. This study was conducted to identify the noncompliance rate of self-quarantine for COVID-19 cases and assess the impact of a 1-strike out policy and an increased amount of penalty for the violating self-quarantine in South Korea. METHODS: The self-quarantine noncompliance rate for COVID-19 was examined using publicly available data. We collected the daily number of quarantine and quarantine violation cases from March 22 to June 10, 2020. A Poisson regression analysis was conducted to identify the impact of additional sanctions for the quarantine violation. RESULTS: The median number of individuals quarantined per day was 36,561 (interquartile range, 34,408-41,961). The median number of daily self-quarantine violations was 6 (range, 0-13). The median rate of self-quarantine violations was 1.6 per 10,000 self-quarantined individuals (range, 0.0-8.0 per 10,000 self-quarantined individuals). The additional sanction has no significant impact on the number of violations among quarantine individuals (P = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The additional sanction for the violation of quarantined individuals did not reduce the self-quarantine violations. Further studies are warranted to strengthen the compliance of self-quarantine for future pandemics.