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
. 2022 Jun;9(2):128-133.
doi: 10.15441/ceem.21.058. Epub 2022 Jun 30.

The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the length of stay and outcomes in the emergency department

Soh Yeon Chun  1 , Ho Jung Kim  1 , Han Bit Kim  1
Affiliations

The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the length of stay and outcomes in the emergency department

Soh Yeon Chun et al. Clin Exp Emerg Med. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the change in length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department (ED) and outcomes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective observational study. We compared ED LOS and outcomes in patients aged ≥19 years who presented to the ED of Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, a single tertiary university hospital, between January and December in 2018, 2019, and 2020. We included patients who were diagnosed with fever, pneumonia, and sepsis in the ED, based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision. We also compared the LOS and outcomes of overall ED patients in 2019 (before COVID-19) and in 2020 (after COVID-19).

Results: A total of 5,061 patients with fever, pneumonia, and sepsis were analyzed. The LOS in the ED in 2020 significantly increased compared with 2018 and 2019 (177.0±115.0 minutes in 2018, 154.0±85.0 minutes in 2019, and 208.0±239.0 minutes in 2020). The proportion of patients who were transferred to other hospitals in 2020 (2.1%) increased compared with 2018 (0.8%) and 2019 (0.7%). Intensive care unit admission significantly increased in 2020 (13.7%) compared with 2019 (10.3%). Among all ED patients, ED LOS in 2020 was longer than in 2019, particularly in patients who were admitted and then transferred to another hospital. Intensive care unit admission (4.4% vs. 5.0%), transfer rate (0.7% vs. 0.9%), and ED mortality (0.6% vs. 0.7%) also significantly increased.

Conclusion: The ED LOS, time to intensive care unit admissions, time to transfer to other hospitals, and ED mortality significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Crowding; Emergencies; Length of stay.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Study population. ED, emergency department; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Box plot of the length of stay in the emergency department (ED) according to disposition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Johnson KD, Harris C, Cain JK, Hummer C, Goyal H, Perisetti A. Pulmonary and extra-pulmonary clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Front Med (Lausanne) 2020;7:526. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kannan S, Shaik Syed Ali P, Sheeza A, Hemalatha K. COVID-19 (novel coronavirus 2019): recent trends. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2020;24:2006–11. - PubMed
    1. Singhal T. A review of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) Indian J Pediatr. 2020;87:281–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Velavan TP, Meyer CG. The COVID-19 epidemic. Trop Med Int Health. 2020;25:278–80. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang C, Horby PW, Hayden FG, Gao GF. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020;395:470–3. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources