What was different in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? – Differences in hospitalizations in 2019 and 2020 at Zadar General Hospital

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 significantly affected all segments of society. The health care system had to adapt quickly to the new situation. Patients canceled and delayed a significant number of examinations and diagnostic procedures, which resulted in a reduction in the number of hospitalizations. The aim of this paper is to present the hospitalizations in the inpatient health care and in the hospital day care in Zadar General Hospital in 2020, in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compare the obtained data with the hospitalizations in 2019. Materials and methods: We used data from National Public Health Information System of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, which registers on a monthly basis of all reports of hospitalizations according to the individual health-statistical reports type "JZ-BSO" Public Health – Patient Statistical Form. Data were processed and presented by descriptive statistical methods. Results: In 2020, 51,152 hospitalizations were recorded at Zadar General Hospital which is 10% less than in the previous year 2019. In 2020, 16,814 hospitalizations were recorded in the inpatient health care, which is 13.6% less than in 2019 (p < 0.05), while 34,338 hospitalizations were recorded in the hospital day care and the decrease was 8.1% (p < 0.05). The number of deaths in Zadar GH in 2020 increased by 5%. In 2020, a total of 885 patients died, and in 2019, 843 patients (p > 0.05). The largest decrease in the number of hospitalizations was recorded in April;in the inpatient health care by 43.8%, and in the hospital day care by 33.5%. In 2020, 6,882 persons positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus were recorded in Zadar County. 327 hospitalizations of SAR-CoV-2 positive persons were recorded in the hospital day care, of which 171 were transferred to inpatient health care and the rest were discharge. In the inpatient health care, 529 hospitalizations of SARS-CoV-2 positive persons were recorded, of which 77.3% were discharged, 5.5% were transferred to another inpatient health care units, and 16.8% died. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic affected the reduction in the number of hospitalizations in 2020, which was expected. Work in the health care system was adapted to the conditions of the pandemic, and for patients the pandemic had the effect of reducing the number and delaying going to medical examinations. © 2021, Opca Bolnica Zadar. All rights reserved.