Emergency care utilization and patients’ outcome before and after COVID-19 national lockdown in Iran: a cross-sectional study

BMC Emergency Medicine

Research

Shahab Rezaeian¹  Vahid Ghanbari²  Leili Rostamnia²  Maryam Janatolmakan³  Alireza Khatony⁴ 

[1] Infectious Diseases Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;Clinical Research Development Center, Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;Infectious Diseases Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran;

关键词: COVID-19;    Pandemic;    Healthcare;    Emergency Department;    Emergency Care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12873-023-00887-7

 received in 2022-12-14, accepted in 2023-09-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionCOVID-19 rapidly spread throughout the world. Stay-at-home and social distance strategies accompanied by fear of contamination with COVID-19 caused significant disruptions in daily life. The study focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency visit and patients’ outcome in the emergency department (ED).MethodAdministrative and clinical data of 25-hospital EDs in Kermanshah province of Iran from February 20, 2020, to February 18, 2021, were retrospectively analyzed with the comparable periods in the previous year. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) was used to compare the differences between the pandemic and the pre-pandemic period.ResultThe number of ED visits decreased nearly 50% after the declaration of a national lockdown. Moreover, the proportion of patients triaged in ESI 1 and 2 levels increased by 40 and 52%, respectively. The ratio of patients admitted to intensive care units and discharged against medical advice also increased significantly.ConclusionDespite the number of ED visits sharply declining, the ratio of patients who came to EDs with higher acuity significantly increased. So, health authorities must sensitize the public about life-threatening signs and symptoms in such conditions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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