ArticleBMC emergency medicine2024
Impact of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department-to-intensive care unit admissions in Korea: an interrupted time-series analysis.
Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Emergency Department Utilization Patterns and Regional Disparities in Access to Care for Children With Complex Chronic Conditions in Korea: A Nationwide Analysis.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Impact of Different COVID-19 Pandemic Phases on Emergency Department Length of Stay and Intensive Care Unit Admission Risk: Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- The functional landscape of critical care: a nationwide study of volume, capability, and institutional variation in South Korea.Acute and critical care · 2026Article
- Ocular Injury in Korea: Epidemiological Analysis and Risk Assessment Based on Nationwide Emergency Department Data (2016-2022).Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Nationwide Age-Specific Changes in EMS-Transported Emergency Department Visits in Korea During the Pre-COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 Periods.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Enhancing hospital workforce planning, scheduling, and performance evaluation through an AI-driven human resource management system.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Delayed at the Door: Impact of Pandemic Response Policies on Emergency and Critical Care in Korea: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Trends in mortality of the WHO-recommended diseases for palliative care in the Republic of Korea, 2014-2023.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Trends in Proportion of Delirium Among Older Emergency Department Patients in South Korea, 2017-2022.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Changes in the Emergency Department Visits Among the Older Adults With Dementia Before, and After the Nationwide Social Distancing Measures: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- Analyzing the dynamics of complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Seoul, Korea: a multifaceted time series approach.Epidemiology and health · 2024Article
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10 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in significant disruptions to critical care systems globally. However, research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intensive care unit (ICU) admissions via the emergency department (ED) is limited. Therefore, this study evaluated the changes in the number of ED-to-ICU admissions and clinical outcomes in the periods before and during the pandemic.
methodsWe identified all adult patients admitted to the ICU through level 1 or 2 EDs in Korea between February 2018 and January 2021. February 2020 was considered the onset point of the COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly changes in the number of ED-to-ICU admissions and the in-hospital mortality rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated using interrupted time-series analysis.
resultsAmong the 555,793 adult ED-to-ICU admissions, the number of ED-to-ICU admissions during the pandemic decreased compared to that before the pandemic (step change, 0.916; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.869-0.966], although the trend did not attain statistical significance (slope change, 0.997; 95% CI 0.991-1.003). The proportion of patients who arrived by emergency medical services, those transferred from other hospitals, and those with injuries declined significantly among the number of ED-to-ICU admissions during the pandemic. The proportion of in-hospital deaths significantly increased during the pandemic (step change, 1.054; 95% CI 1.003-1.108); however, the trend did not attain statistical significance (slope change, 1.001; 95% CI 0.996-1.007). Mortality rates in patients with an ED length of stay of ≥ 6 h until admission to the ICU rose abruptly following the onset of the pandemic (step change, 1.169; 95% CI 1.021-1.339).
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected ED-to-ICU admission and in-hospital mortality rates in Korea. This study's findings have important implications for healthcare providers and policymakers planning the management of future outbreaks of infectious diseases. Strategies are needed to address the challenges posed by pandemics and improve the outcomes in critically ill patients.
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