Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2022 Feb 25;101(8):e29009.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000029009.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department utilization patterns in South Korea: A retrospective observational study

Hyunglan Chang  1 , Min Woo Kang  2 , So Hyun Paek  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department utilization patterns in South Korea: A retrospective observational study

Hyunglan Chang et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

The purpose of analyzing changes in the use of emergency departments (EDs) was to better understand how to use ED resources efficiently during infectious disease outbreaks.Our study was a retrospective observational study. We analyzed the patterns of visits of adult and pediatric patients to separate EDs during 2020 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak to know the changes in the ED utilization. We collected the patient's demographics and time of visit, patients' acuity level at triage, cause of visit, transportation used, disposition, symptom to visit time, length of stay, and top 10 most common complaints. We compared pediatric and adult EDs before and after COVID-19.The total number of patients who visited the EDs was 197,152 over 3 years. During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the number of visits decreased significantly, especially the number of pediatric patients. The number of ED visits decreased in correlation with a surge in the number of confirmed COVID patients. The proportion of severe cases in pediatric emergency department (PED) visits increased, but there was no difference in adult emergency department. The number of hospitalized PED patients increased, and the number of hospitalized adult emergency department patients decreased. However, both types of ED patients increased in intensive care unit hospitalizations, proportion of deaths, and use of ambulances. The proportion of trauma patients in the PED increased significantly (P < .001). The time from symptom onset to ED visit time was reduced for patients. The ED length of stay increased in adults, and decreased for pediatric patients.COVID-19 brought about many changes to ED utilization. A greater reduction in ED utilization occurred in pediatric patients compared to adult patients. Our study showed changes in the number and characteristics of patients visiting the ED during the COVID-19 period compared to 2018 and 2019.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient flow chart. AED = adult emergency department, ED = emergency department, PED = pediatric emergency department.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of adult and pediatric emergency department visits per month from 2018 to 2020. (A) Total number of AED and PED visits from January to December in 2018. (B) Total number of AED and PED visits from January to December in 2019. (C) Total number of AED and PED visits from January to December in 2020. The blue arrow indicates surges in the number of infected cases in 2020. The red arrow shows when the first confirmed patient occurred. The number of ED visits by patients decreased in correlation with a surge in the number of confirmed patients. AED = adult emergency department, ED = emergency department, PED = pediatric emergency department.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The top 10 most common complaints of pediatric patients visiting the ED during COVID-19 and 2018, 2019 periods. AED = adult emergency department, PED = pediatric emergency department.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The top 10 most common complaints of adults visiting the ED during COVID-19 and 2018, 2019 periods. AED = adult emergency department, PED = pediatric emergency department.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Boserup B, McKenney M, Elkbuli A. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department visits and patient safety in the United States. Am J Emerg Med 2020;38:1732–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jeffery MM, D’Onofrio G, Paek H, et al. . Trends in emergency department visits and hospital admissions in health care systems in 5 states in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. JAMA Intern Med 2020;180:1328–33. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kuitunen I, Ponkilainen VT, Launonen AP, et al. . The effect of national lockdown due to COVID-19 on emergency department visits. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2020;28:114.doi: 10.1186/s13049-020-00810-0. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hartnett KP, Kite-Powell A, DeVies J, et al. . Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department visits—United States, January 1, 2019–May 30, 2020. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:699–704. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Westgard BC, Morgan MW, Vazquez-Benitez G, Erickson LO, Zwank MD. An analysis of changes in emergency department visits after a state declaration during the time of COVID-19. Ann Emerg Med 2020;76:595–601. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types