Impact of COVID-19 on hospital visits for non-traumatic dental conditions in Ontario, Canada

BMC Research Notes

Research Note

Badal Dhar¹  Nardin Ayoub²  Sonica Singhal³  Carlos Quiñonez⁴ 

[1] Data and Information Management Services, Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, M5G 1V2, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Health Sciences, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada;Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Department, Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Suite 300, M5G 1V2, Toronto, ON, Canada;Discipline of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada;

关键词: Access to care;    Emergency department visits;    Day surgeries;    Hospitalizations;    Non-traumatic dental conditions;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-023-06380-5

 received in 2022-07-06, accepted in 2023-06-07,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Background and rationaleAs general health care is publicly funded in Canada and oral health care is not, many people seek care from hospitals for their dental problems. This study assessed if the unprecedented times of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affected the hospital visits for dental emergencies, making disadvantaged populations further vulnerable for attendance of their dental problems.MethodsData from IntelliHealth Ontario for emergency department (ED) visits, day surgery visits, and hospitalizations associated with non-traumatic dental conditions (NTDCs) were retrieved for years 2016 to 2020 to assess trends before COVID-19 and changes, if any, for the year 2020. Trends by month, for the years 2019 and 2020, to make straight comparisons and understand the effects of lockdown in Ontario, was also analyzed.ResultsIn the year 2020, there was a reduction of 40% in day surgeries, 21% in ED visits and 8% in hospitalizations compared to 2019. Stratified by month, largest reductions were observed in April 2020: 96% in day surgeries; 50% in ED visits; and 38% reductions in hospitalizations when compared to the same month of 2019. In May 2020, day surgeries and ED visits though remained reduced, hospitalization rates increased by 31%.ConclusionHospital EDs are inefficient avenues for handling dental emergencies. Nevertheless, they do remain a care setting that is sought by many for dental problems, and if the need for hospitalization and day surgery is there, this care setting is an important avenue for dentally related medical care. Perhaps unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has lessened the opportunity and capacity for such care.Practical implicationsAdministrators and policy makers can utilize this information to strategize on augmenting community infrastructure for building more effective, and cost-efficient avenues of care for timely management of dental problems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Crown 2023

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