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. 2023 Sep;89(9):3962-3964.
doi: 10.1177/00031348231174005. Epub 2023 May 5.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Trauma Population in a Level 1 Trauma Center

Javier A Michael  1 , Morgan E Roberts  1 , Andrew N Haiflich  1 , Edwin Boyer  1 , Thomas J Capasso  1 , Charles C Butts  1 , Andrew C Bright  1 , Christopher M Kinnard  1 , Jon D Simmons  1 , Ashley Y Williams  1 , Yannlei L Lee  1 , Nathan M Polite  1 , Maryann I Mbaka  1
Affiliations

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Trauma Population in a Level 1 Trauma Center

Javier A Michael et al. Am Surg. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effects of the pandemic on our trauma population. We performed a retrospective review of the trauma registry in the 2 years prior, and then 2 years during the pandemic. We evaluated age, race, gender, injury severity score (ISS), mechanism of trauma, rate of self-inflicted injury, rate of gunshot wounds (GSW), presence of EtOH, drug screen results, mortality, rate of burn traumas, and zip code of residence. Our query captured 5 054 patients before, and 5 731 during the pandemic. We found no statistical difference in age, gender, mechanism of trauma, rate of self-inflicted injuries, and mortality during the pandemic when compared to before. There were statistically significant differences in race, ISS, rate of GSWs, EtOH use, drug screen results, and burn traumas. Geospatial mapping found a rise in GSWs for zip code 36606. Gun violence and substance use rose in our trauma population during COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; socioeconomic; trauma; trauma acute care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Presence of EtOH and Presence of Drugs, respectively. Figure 1 represents the increase in the presence of EtOH and positive drug screen results in pre-pandemic vs the pandemic study group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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