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 Aug 14;10(8):1540.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10081540.

Changes in Emergency Department Case Severity and Length of Stay before and after COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea

Yong-Seok Kim  1 , In-Byung Kim  2 , Seon-Rye Kim  3 , Byung-Jun Cho  4
Affiliations

Changes in Emergency Department Case Severity and Length of Stay before and after COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea

Yong-Seok Kim et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Severe patients visited regional emergency centers more frequently during the COVID-19 period, and disposition status warranting admission to the intensive care unit or resulting in death was more common during the COVID-19 period. This study was conducted to compare the characteristics and severity of patients, and emergency department length of stay before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Subjects were 75,409 patients who visited the regional emergency medical center from 1 February 2019 to 19 January 2020 and from 1 February 2020 to 19 January 2021. Data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 22.0 program. The significance level was p < 0.05. The chi-square test and t-test were used for variables, and Cramer V was used for correlation. We found that the total number of patients visiting the emergency room decreased by 37.6% after COVID-19, but emergency department length of stay among severely ill patients increased by 203.7%. Additionally, the utilization rate of 119 ambulances and relatively more severe patients increased by 9.0% and by 2.1%. More studies about emergency department designs and operational programs should be conducted for better action not only during regular periods but also during periods of pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; emergency department length of stay; emergency medical system; severity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The difference in the emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) by severity before and after COVID-19 outbreak.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The difference in the emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) by main diagnosis before and after COVID-19 outbreak.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Yu I.S. What to Do to Improve Emergency Care. Health Welf. Forum. 2010;11:45–57. doi: 10.23062/2010.11.6. - DOI
    1. Lu J., Chen D., Hsieh C., Lin S. Association of Epstein-Barr virus infection with systemic lupus erythematosus in Taiwan. Lupus. 2007;16:168–175. doi: 10.1177/0961203306075800. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cho S.Y., Kang J.M., Ha Y.E., Park G.E., Lee J.Y., Ko J.H., Kim Y.J. MERS-CoV outbreak following a single patient exposure in an emergency room in South Korea: An epidemiological outbreak study. Lancet. 2016;388:994–1001. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30623-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee S.Y., Khang Y.H., Lim H.K. Impact of the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak on emergency care utilization and mortality in South Korea. Yonsei Med. J. 2019;60:796–803. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2019.60.8.796. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Son C. The Present and Future of the Management of New Infectious Diseases in Seoul through COVID-19 Response. Policy Rep. 2020;299:1–36.

LinkOut - more resources