Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33884306›Full record

ArticleTrauma surgery & acute care open2021

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health insurance coverage among trauma patients: a study of six level I trauma centers.

Erica Sercy, Therese M Duane, Mark Lieser, Robert M Madayag, Gina Berg, Kaysie L Banton, David Hamilton, David Bar-Or

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Trauma surgery & acute care open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Erica SercyTrauma Research Department, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7975-8601
Therese M DuaneTrauma Services Department, Medical City Plano, Plano, Texas, USA.
Mark LieserTrauma Services Department, Research Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Robert M MadayagTrauma Services Department, St Anthony Hospital & Medical Campus, Lakewood, Colorado, USA.
Gina BergTrauma Research Department, Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas, USA.
Kaysie L BantonTrauma Services Department, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado, USA.
David HamiltonTrauma Services Department, Penrose Hospital, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
David Bar-OrTrauma Research Department, Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colorado, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncreased unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic has likely led to widespread loss of employer-provided health insurance. This study examined trends in health insurance coverage among trauma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, including differences in demographics and clinical characteristics by insurance type.

methodsThis was a retrospective study on adult patients admitted to six level 1 trauma centers between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2020. The primary exposure was hospital admission date: January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 (Period 1), January 1, 2019 to March 15, 2020 (Period 2), and March 16, 2020 to June 30, 2020 (Period 3). Covariates included demographic and clinical variables. χ² tests examined whether the rates of patients covered by each insurance type differed between the pandemic and earlier periods. Mann-Whiney U and χ² tests investigated whether patient demographics or clinical characteristics differed within each insurance type across the study periods.

resultsA total of 31 225 trauma patients admitted between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 were included. Forty-one per cent (n=12 651) were admitted in Period 1, 49% (n=15 258) were from Period 2, and 11% (n=3288) were from Period 3. Percentages of uninsured patients increased significantly across the three periods (Periods 1 to 3: 15%, 16%, 21%) (p DISCUSSION: This study found that job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increases of uninsured trauma patients. However, there was not a corresponding decrease in commercial/privately insured patients, as may have been expected; rather, a decrease in Medicare patients was observed. These findings may be attributable to a growing workforce during the study period, in combination with a younger overall patient population during the pandemic. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective, level III study.

Indexed as

COVID-19epidemiologyhealthcare disparitiesobservational study

Identifiers

PMID33884306
PMCPMC8023754

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.