Impact of easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on traumatic injuries in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: one-year experience at a major trauma centre

BMC Public Health

Research

Virginia Lewis¹  Rayan Jafnan Alharbi²  Ateeq Almuwallad³  Abdullah Alshibani⁴  Rami Al-Jafar⁵  Muhammad Aziz Rahman⁶  Sharfuddin Chowdhury⁷ 

[1] Australia Institute for Primary Care and Ageing (AIPCA), La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia;Department of Emergency Medical Service, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, 45142, Al Maarefah Rd, Jazan, Saudi Arabia;Department of Emergency Medical Service, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, 45142, Al Maarefah Rd, Jazan, Saudi Arabia;Centre for Trauma Science, Blizard Institute Queen Mary University, London, UK;Department of Emergency Medical Services, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin, Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK;Department of Data Services, Lean Business Services, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;School of Health, Federation University Australia, Berwick, VIC, Australia;Trauma Center, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Covid-19;    Pandemic;    Easing restrictions;    Injury;    Major trauma;    Motor Vehicle Crashes;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-14981-9

 received in 2022-08-08, accepted in 2023-01-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionLockdown restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced the number of injuries recorded. However, little is known about the impact of easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on the nature and outcome of injuries. This study aims to compare injury patterns prior to and after the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Saudi Arabia.MethodData were collected retrospectively from the Saudi TraumA Registry for the period between March 25, 2019, and June 21, 2021. These data corresponded to three periods: March 2019–February 2020 (pre-restrictions, period 1), March 2020–June 2020 (lockdown, period 2), and July 2020–June 2021 (post easing of restrictions, period 3). Data related to patients’ demographics, mechanism and severity of injury, and in-hospital mortality were collected and analysed.ResultsA total of 5,147 traumatic injury patients were included in the analysis (pre-restrictions n = 2593; lockdown n = 218; post easing of lockdown restrictions n = 2336). An increase in trauma cases (by 7.6%) was seen in the 30–44 age group after easing restrictions (n = 648 vs. 762, p < 0.01). Motor vehicle crashes (MVC) were the leading cause of injury, followed by falls in all the three periods. MVC-related injuries decreased by 3.1% (n = 1068 vs. 890, p = 0.03) and pedestrian-related injuries decreased by 2.7% (n = 227 vs. 143, p < 0.01); however, burn injuries increased by 2.2% (n = 134 vs. 174, p < 0.01) and violence-related injuries increased by 0.9% (n = 45 vs. 60, p = 0.05) post easing of lockdown restrictions. We observed an increase in in-hospital mortality during the period of 12 months after easing of lockdown restrictions—4.9% (114/2336) compared to 12 months of pre-lockdown period—4.3% (113/2593).ConclusionThis is one of the first studies to document trauma trends over a one-year period after easing lockdown restrictions. MVC continues to be the leading cause of injuries despite a slight decrease; overall injury cases rebounded towards pre-lockdown levels in Saudi Arabia. Injury prevention needs robust legislation with respect to road safety measures and law enforcement that can decrease the burden of traumatic injuries.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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