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. 2022 Jul 31;63(2):E325-E330.
doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2022.63.2.2210. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Impact of the state of emergency on trends in the care of three major diseases at Showa University Hospital, Japan: a retrospective and descriptive study

Akira Minoura  1 , Kouzou Murakami  2 , Masaaki Matoba  3 , Yoshinori Ito  2 , Yumi Kamijo  3 , Akatsuki Kokaze  1
Affiliations

Impact of the state of emergency on trends in the care of three major diseases at Showa University Hospital, Japan: a retrospective and descriptive study

Akira Minoura et al. J Prev Med Hyg. .

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the trends in patient consultations for three major diseases (cancer, heart disease, and stroke) at Showa University Hospital, Japan during the state of emergency for the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: The present study was a retrospective and descriptive study of Showa University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Subjects were patients who had received medical treatment at Showa University Hospital and were diagnosed from 2017 to 2020. To examine the impact of the state of emergency, the number visits to hospital by the top three causes of death or other diseases were summarised from 21 weeks of data, from week 8 to week 28, for each year.

Results: Compared to the average of the previous 3 years, a comparison of the three periods before and after the state of emergency showed a V-shaped curve in 2020, with a large drop in the number of cancer patients during the state of emergency, both from within Tokyo and from outside the city.

Conclusions: This study showed a long-term decrease in cancer patient visits to Showa University Hospital since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous 3 years. It is also possible that medical care that would have been available may not have been provided due to the state of emergency, so it is necessary to follow up patients while keeping a close eye on measures other than infectious diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Hospital hygiene; Infection control; Japanese patients; State of emergency.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Number of visits to hospital by patients from Tokyo by disease.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Number of visits to hospital by patients from outside Tokyo by disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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