Observational studyThe western journal of emergency medicine2020
Underutilization of the Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Observational study in The western journal of emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed.
- Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in High-Income Countries and the Associated Maternal-Infant Health Outcomes: A Systematic Literature and Policy Review.Health science reports · 2026Review
- Shifting emergency department utilization patterns among vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- The effect of COVID-19 and socioeconomic inequalities on emergency department accesses for psychiatric conditions.PloS one · 2026Article
- Observational
- Frequent Users of Emergency Departments: Analysis of the Characteristics and Geographical Distribution in a Local Health Authority in Rome, Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Closing-the-loop: a novel care coordination tool to reduce maternal healthcare utilization postpartum and collaboratively build interventions to address community needs.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Utilization of upper gastrointestinal tumor inpatient services affected by COVID-19 in China 2018-2021: an interrupted time series analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Adult Mental Health Presentations to Emergency Departments in Victoria, Australia between January 2018 and October 2020: Changes Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic Public Health Restrictions.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2024Article
- Acute care pathway assessed through performance indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic in OECD countries (2020-2021): a scoping review.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Article
- ED Visits for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic at 5 Campus Health Systems.JAMA network open · 2023Observational
- Article
- Emergency care utilization and patients' outcome before and after COVID-19 national lockdown in Iran: a cross-sectional study.BMC emergency medicine · 2023Article
- Comparison of Pediatric Acute Appendicitis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2023Article
- Increase in trauma volume as compared to emergency department volume during the COVID-19 pandemic.Injury · 2023Article
- Trends and correlated outcomes in population-level prescription opioid and transdermal fentanyl use in Israel.Israel journal of health policy research · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Insecurity in an Urban Emergency Department Patient Population.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2023Observational
- Performance analysis of hospitals before and during the COVID-19 in Iran: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2023Article
- Appropriateness of frequent use of emergency departments: A retrospective analysis in Rome, Italy.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Collateral Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Emergency Department Visits in Korea.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- 'I Didn't Know Where to Go': A Mixed-Methods Approach to Explore Migrants' Perspectives of Access and Use of Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States (US) prompted widespread containment measures such as shelter-in-place (SIP) orders. The goal of our study was to determine whether there was a significant change in overall volume and proportion of emergency department (ED) encounters since SIP measures began.
methodsThis was a retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study using billing data from January 1, 2017-April 20, 2020. We received data from 141 EDs across 16 states, encompassing a convenience sample of 26,223,438 ED encounters. We used a generalized least squares regression approach to ascertain changes for overall ED encounters, hospital admissions, and New York University ED visit algorithm categories.
resultsED encounters decreased significantly in the post-SIP period. Overall, there was a 39.6% decrease in ED encounters compared to expected volume in the pre-SIP period. Emergent encounters decreased by 35.8%, while non-emergent encounters decreased by 52.1%. Psychiatric encounters decreased by 30.2%. Encounters related to drugs and alcohol decreased the least, by 9.3% and 27.5%, respectively.
conclusionThere was a significant overall reduction in ED utilization in the post-SIP period. There was a greater reduction in lower acuity encounters than higher acuity encounters. Of all subtypes of ED encounters, substance abuse- and alcohol-related encounters reduced the least, and injury-related encounters reduced the most.
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