The influence of coronavirus disease 2019 on emergency department visits in Nanjing, China: A multicentre cross-sectional study.
Am J Emerg Med
; 38(10): 2101-2109, 2020 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-696758
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Influenza has been linked to the crowding in emergency departments (ED) across the world. The impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on China EDs has been quite different from those during past influenza outbreaks. Our objective was to determine if COVID-19 changed ED visit disease severity during the pandemic.METHODS:
This was a retrospective cross sectional study conducted in Nanjing, China. We captured ED visit data from 28 hospitals. We then compared visit numbers from October 2019 to February 2020 for a month-to-month analysis and every February from 2017 to 2020 for a year-to-year analysis. Inter-group chi-square test and time series trend tests were performed to compare visit numbers. The primary outcome was the proportion of severe disease visits in the EDs.RESULTS:
Through February 29 th 2020, there were 93 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients in Nanjing, of which 40 cases (43.01%) were first seen in the ED. The total number of ED visits in Nanjing in February 2020, were dramatically decreased (n = 99,949) in compared to January 2020 (n = 313,125) and February 2019 (n = 262,503). Except for poisoning, the severe diseases in EDs all decreased in absolute number, but increased in proportion both in year-to-year and month-to-month analyses. This increase in proportional ED disease severity was greater in higher-level referral hospitals when compared year by year.CONCLUSION:
The COVID-19 outbreak has been associated with decreases in ED visits in Nanjing, China, but increases in the proportion of severe ED visits.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Severity of Illness Index
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Am J Emerg Med
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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