Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and associated lockdown measures on attendances at emergency departments in English hospitals: A retrospective database study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and associated lockdown measures have challenged healthcare. We examine how attendances to ED in England were impacted.

Methods

Interrupted time series regression (January 2019 to June 2020) of data from EDs in 41 English NHS Trusts was used to estimate the initial decrease in attendances and the rate of increase following an interruption from 11 March - 7 April 2020, which included the 23 March lockdown in England.

Findings

The SARS-CoV-2 interruption led to an initial 51.1% reduction (95% CI 46.3-55.9%) in ED attendances followed by a linear increase in attendances of 3.0% per week (95% CI 2.5-3.5%).  Significantly larger initial reductions were seen in those aged 0-19 years (69.1%), Indian (64.9%), Pakistani (71.8%), Bangladeshi (

SUBMITTER: Wyatt S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7837109 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature