Do Really Urgent Cases Present to the Emergency Department: What a Pandemic Has Shown

Abstract

Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant health and social impacts globally. This study aimed to describe the variance in emergency department admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic and to reveal the profile of patients admitted to the emergency department (ED). Material and Methods: Data from patients in the ED between 11.03.2020-23.04.2020, which is a period of the pandemic, and 11.03.2019-23.04.2019, which is the non-pandemic period, was retrospectively analyzed. The frequency, demographic and clinical characteristics, and financial costs of patients admitted to the ED in those two periods were compared. Results: While the ratio of patients presenting to the emergency department was 69.6% in the non-pandemic period, it was calculated to be 30.4% in the pandemic period (p < 0.001). A higher admission rate was found in patients aged 18-24 years during the non-pandemic period and in patients aged 45-64 years and ≥ 65 years during the pandemic period (p