Abstract

BackgroundFollowing the first report of the COVID-19 case in Ethiopia on March 13, 2020, the country promptly adopted a lockdown policy to contain the virus’s spread. Responding to the healthcare burden imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic had to be coupled with ensuring essential health care services. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the trends in hospital visits and admissions at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital by comparing the rate of follow-up clinic visits and admissions for the 3 months before and after the first report of the COVID-19 case.MethodsA retrospective, time-series study examined the trend in follow-up visits and admissions between December 11, 2019, to June 7, 2020, with the 1st case of the COVID-19 report in Ethiopia (March 13, 2020) as a reference time. To control seasonal effects and random fluctuation, we have compared health care utilization to its equivalent period in 2018/19. A data extraction tool was used to collect secondary data from each unit’s electronic medical recordings and logbooks.ResultsA total of 7717 visits from eight follow-up clinics and 3310 admissions were collected 3 months before the onset of COVID-19. During the following 3 months after the onset of the pandemic, 4597 visits and 2383 admissions were collected. Overall, a 40.4% decrease in follow-up visits and a 28% decline in admissions were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. A drop in the daily follow-up visits was observed for both genders. The number of visits in all follow-up clinics in 2019/2020 decreased compared to the same months in 2018/19 (p < 0.05). Follow-up visits were substantially lower for renal patients (− 68%), patients with neurologic problems (− 53.9%), antiretroviral treatment clinics (− 52.3%), cardiac patients (− 51.4%). Although pediatric emergency admission was significantly lower (− 54.1%) from the baseline (p = 0.04), admissions from the general pediatric and adult wards did not show a significant difference.ConclusionsA decline in follow-up clinic visits and emergency admissions was observed during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will increase the possibility of avoidable morbidity and mortality due to non-COVID-19-related illnesses. Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for the decline and track the pandemic’s long-term effects among non-COVID-19 patients.

Highlights

  • Following the first report of the COVID-19 case in Ethiopia on March 13, 2020, the country promptly adopted a lockdown policy to contain the virus’s spread

  • A decline in follow-up clinic visits and emergency admissions was observed during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for the decline and track the pandemic’s long-term effects among non-COVID-19 patients

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Summary

Introduction

Following the first report of the COVID-19 case in Ethiopia on March 13, 2020, the country promptly adopted a lockdown policy to contain the virus’s spread. Responding to the healthcare burden imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic had to be coupled with ensuring essential health care services. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the trends in hospital visits and admissions at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital by comparing the rate of follow-up clinic visits and admissions for the 3 months before and after the first report of the COVID-19 case. Responding to the healthcare burden imposed by the pandemic required intense resources. Even more, this had to be coupled with ensuring continued access to essential healthcare services [1]. The delayed access or provision of care affected acute and chronic care [8, 9] and increased adverse outcomes from nonCOVID-19-related illnesses [10, 11]

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