The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown on Emergency Department Visits in a Tertiary Hospital

Figures & data

Table 1 Comparison of Gender and Age of Emergency Patients from January 23 to February 24, 2019, 2020 and 2021

General Information	2019 (n=9954)	2020 (n=6196)	2021 (n=10,503)	χ^2	P
Gender
Male	5371 (53.96%)	3216 (52.13%)	5569 (53.02%)	5.246	0.073
Female	4583 (46.0)	2953 (47.87%)	4934 (46.98%)
Age group (y)
15–45	4412 (44.32)	2579 (41.81%)	4720 (44.94%)	16.239	<0.001
46–60	3592 (36.09)	2342 (37.96%)	3808 (36.26%)	5.480	0.065
>60	1950 (19.59%)	1248 (20.23%)	1975 (18.80%)	5.933	0.052

Figure 1 Comparison of the number of patients and growth rate presenting to the ED in the same period in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Figure 2 The number of critically ill patients managed by the ED across the three years.

Table 2 Comparison of Disease Classifications for Critically Ill Patients Presenting via the ED from January 23 to February 24, 2019, 2020, and 2021

Classification	2019 (n=568)	2020 (n=339)	2021 (n=590)	χ^2	P	P1	P2	P3
Nervous system	120 (21.13%)	88 (25.96%)	128 (21.69%)	3.162	0.206	0.103	0.830	0.147
Cardiovascular system	125 (22.01%)	86 (25.37%)	127 (21.53%)	1.990	0.370	0.256	0.887	0.195
Respiratory system	85 (14.96%)	34 (10.03%)	89 (15.08%)	7.019	0.030*	0.033*	1.000	0.034*
Digestive system	57 (10.04%)	42 (12.39%)	61 (10.34%)	1.357	0.507	0.273	0.923	0.385
Endocrine system	40 (7.04)	34 (10.03%)	36 (6.10%)	5.005	0.082	0.132	0.554	0.038*
Urinary system	28 (4.93%)	22 (6.49%)	30 (5.08%)	1.151	0.563	0.367	1.000	0.377
Severe trauma	43 (7.57%)	11 (3.24%)	48 (8.14%)	8.936	0.012*	0.009*	0.744	0.003*
Poisoning	49 (8.63%)	6 (1.77%)	47 (7.97%)	23.236	0.000*	0.000*	0.749	0.000*
Others	21 (3.70%)	16 (4.72%)	24 (4.07%)	0.568	0.753	0.489	0.763	0.619

Notes: Patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) were classified and counted according to their first diagnoses. Others were not classified as the diagnosis was unknown. Poisoning patients include drug poisoning, chemical poisoning, alcohol poisoning, etc. χ² and P are the overall comparisons among the three groups. P1 is the comparison between 2019 and 2020; P2 is the comparison between 2019 and 2021; P3 is the comparison between 2020 and 2021; *P < 0.05.

Figure 3 Comparison of disease classifications for critically ill patients presenting via the ED from January 23 to February 24, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Table 3 Comparison of the Number of EACs, Hospitalizations, and Deaths from January 23 to February 24, 2019, 2020, and 2021

Items	2019	2020	2021	χ^2	P	P1	P2	P3
EACs	398 (4.00%)	309 (5.01%)	398 (3.79%)	15.450	0.000*	0.003*	0.448	0.000*
Hospitalizations	649 (6.52%)	461 (7.47%)	649 (6.18%)	10.734	0.005*	0.021*	0.329	0.001*
Deaths	14 (0.14%)	28 (0.45%)	14 (0.13%)	22.034	0.000*	0.000*	1.000	0.000*

Notes: The number of deaths includes the number of critical emergency cases and the number of deaths before hospitalization. The number of hospitalizations refers to the patient being hospitalized in a ward. χ² and P are the overall comparisons among the three groups. P1 is the comparison between 2019 and 2020; P2 is the comparison between 2019 and 2021; P3 is the comparison between 2020 and 2021; *P < 0.05.

Abbreviation: EAC, emergency ambulance calls.