Impacts of Major Changes in China’s COVID-19 Prevention and Control Policies on Emergency Department Visits: A Quasi-Experiment

Figures & data

Table 1 Description of Total and Cause-Specific Emergency Visits During Pre- and Post-Pandemic Periods

Disease	Pre-Pandemic Period		Pandemic Period		Normalized Control Period		End of Control Period
	Overall Visits (n, %)	Visits Per Week	Overall Visits (n, %)	Visits Per Week	Overall Visits (n, %)	Visits per Week	Overall Visits (n, %)	Visits Per Week
Any	117745 (100)	1100	9117 (100)	651	142,260 (100)	1046	43,035 (100)	1025
Neurological disease	11699 (9.9)	109	1102 (12.1)	79	14,796 (10.4)	109	5114 (11.9)	122
Ear/nose/throat disease	4518 (3.8)	42	250 (2.7)	18	3659 (2.6)	27	1193 (2.8)	28
Oral disease	215 (0.2)	2	25 (0.3)	2	501 (0.4)	4	130 (0.3)	3
Cardiovascular disease	5803 (4.9)	54	568 (6.2)	41	8014 (5.6)	59	2966 (6.9)	71
Respiratory disease	8654 (7.3)	81	885 (9.7)	63	7390 (5.2)	54	8047 (18.7)	192
Digestive disease	14319 (12.2)	134	927 (10.2)	66	16,571 (11.6)	122	4865 (11.3)	116
Urinary disease	4236 (3.6)	40	304 (3.3)	22	5579 (3.9)	41	1472 (3.4)	35
Rheumatic disease	445 (0.4)	4	38 (0.4)	3	600 (0.4)	4	230 (0.5)	5
Endocrine disease	476 (0.4)	4	58 (0.6)	4	880 (0.6)	6	257 (0.6)	6
Blood disease	2053 (1.7)	19	193 (2.1)	14	2514 (1.8)	18	754 (1.8)	18
Reproductive disease	1455 (1.2)	14	142 (1.6)	10	1863 (1.3)	14	479 (1.1)	11
Disease caused by physical or chemical factor	14802 (12.6)	138	700 (7.7)	50	16,881 (11.9)	124	3547 (8.2)	84
Skin disease	1177 (1.0)	11	70 (0.8)	5	1495 (1.1)	11	780 (1.8)	19
Ophthalmic disease	1671 (1.4)	16	123 (1.3)	9	2288 (1.6)	17	483 (1.1)	12
Fever of unknown origin	2392 (2.0)	22	277 (3.0)	20	2338 (1.6)	17	1037 (2.4)	25
Other disease	43830 (37.2)	410	3455 (37.9)	247	56,891 (40.0)	418	11,681 (27.1)	278

Figure 1 Change in the number of emergency visits and the composition of diseases in each quarter from January 2018 to September 2023.

Table 2 Results of Parameter Estimation for the Interrupted Time Series Model of Emergency Department Visits

Period	Measure	Total Visits		Visits for Respiratory Disease		Visits for Non-Respiratory Disease
		IRR	(95% CI)	IRR	(95% CI)	IRR	(95% CI)
Before pandemic	Trend (slop)	0.995	(0.994–0.996)	0.992	(0.989–0.994)	0.995	(0.994–0.996)
Pandemic	Level change	0.615	(0.502–0.749)	1.794	(1.132–2.772)	0.541	(0.443–0.658)
	Trend (slop)	1.051	(1.028–1.076)	0.940	(0.879–1.002)	1.063	(1.040–1.087)
Normalized control	Level change	1.184	(0.979–1.439)	1.607	(0.846–3.280)	1.157	(0.967–1.391)
	Trend (slop)	0.955	(0.933–0.977)	1.073	(1.007–1.148)	0.944	(0.923–0.965)
End of control	Level change	1.315	(1.191–1.450)	4.792	(3.759–6.118)	1.051	(0.951–1.160)
	Trend	0.991	(0.987–0.994)	0.972	(0.963–0.981)	0.996	(0.992–0.999)

Abbreviations: IRR, incidence rate ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Figure 2 Trend of the weekly emergency visits for all diseases from January 2018 to September 2023.

Figure 3 Trend of weekly emergency visits for respiratory diseases from January 2018 to September 2023.

Figure 4 Trend of weekly emergency visits for non-respiratory diseases from January 2018 to September 2023.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.