Effect of COVID-19 on the admissions to the adult emergency department

Abstract

Introduction The disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2, which first appeared in China in late 2019 and can be transmitted from human to human, was named COVID-19 and the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 12th, 2020. In this study, we aim to find the impact of this outbreak on emergency practices. Methods Patients admitted to Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital adult emergency department between the dates 20/03/2018-03/04/2018, 20/03/2019-03/04/2019 and 20/03/2020-03/04/2020 were included in the study. The emergency department admissions between these dates were retrospectively investigated and analyzed statistically. Results During the study period, a total 36,341 patients, of which 15,048 between 20/03/2018 and 03/04/2018, 15,048 between 20/03/2019 and 03/04/2019, and 6,245 between 20/03/2020 and 03/04/2020 were admitted to the Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital adult emergency department. Of the patients, 16588 were female and 19753 were male. A 4-tier triage system is applied in our hospital. According to the triage system, 19270 patients were admitted to the Green Room, 8312 patients to the Trauma Room and 8759 patients to the Yellow Room. A statistically significant difference was found in the distribution of departments admitted by the patients by year. Admissions, especially between 17:00 and 24:00, decreased significantly. There was a statistically significant decrease in the admissions of foreign nationals to the emergency department in 2020, compared to the previous years. Conclusions In the emergency departments of hospitals that serve COVID-19 patients, there may be a decrease in patient admissions compared to previous years.