Abstract
BackgroundGiven that Swedish authorities have been widely viewed as having practiced an unusual approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and given that Sweden is notable for a low incidence of trauma, we wanted to learn how the pandemic may have affected the number of trauma admissions in Sweden.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the Swedish trauma registry (Svenska Traumaregistret). The study period was March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020. As a basis for comparison, the record for the same time during the previous year, 2019 was used.ResultsDuring the four months of the first wave of COVID-19, 2020 there was a decline of 24.2% in the total number of trauma patients in Sweden. There was no significant change in 30-day mortality rates, 4.7% 2019 and 5.1% 2020, (p = 0.30). The number of injuries per patient was higher during the pandemic 3.8 injuries 2019 and 4.1 injuries 2020 (p = 0.02). The NISS 6, 2019 and 8, 2020 was higher during the pandemic.ConclusionsAs a consequence of what were seen by many as all too lenient actions taken to deal with COVID-19 in Sweden during spring 2020, there was still a reduction in trauma admissions most likely due to an adherence to the voluntary recommendations, the reduction was not as prominent as what was seen in many countries with harsher restrictions and lockdowns.
Highlights
ResultsDuring the four months of the first wave of COVID-19, 2020 there was a decline of 24.2% in the total number of trauma patients in Sweden
Given that Swedish authorities have been widely viewed as having practiced an unusual approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and given that Sweden is notable for a low incidence of trauma, we wanted to learn how the pandemic may have affected the number of trauma admissions in Sweden
Study design and participants We conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the Swedish trauma registry (Svenska Traumaregistret, SweTrau)
Summary
Patient characteristics During the four months of the first wave of COVID-19, 2020 there was a decline of 24.2% in the total number of trauma patients throughout Sweden during that time interval (Table 1.). The changed pattern we found in Sweden with a limited decline in trauma and a small non-significant rise in penetrating injuries has a similar appearance but on a lower level. Considering the relatively lenient measures against COVID-19 in Sweden [3] the small reduction in Sweden was expected We believe that this decline is manly a result of a changed behavior among Swedes that occurred the government only used voluntary measures. Length of stay and days in ventilator did not change during COVID-19 and there was not a significant change in the number of patients being discharged to home there was a tendency of fewer patients being discharged to home which could indicate that the patients were more severely injured and needed more recovery time to be able to return to baseline. The findings are interesting for other parts of the world as it implies that the number of trauma patients has a correlation to the restrictions activated to limit the spread of an infectious disease, information that could be useful in the future
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