The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and alcohol restriction on trauma-related emergency department cases in a South African regional hospital

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Manyoni, Mncedisi Junior
Abader, Muhammed Irfaan

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of the Covid-19 lockdown and the alcohol restriction on the number of cases that presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with the same time period two years prior. The method used was a retrospective review of medical records, directly comparing the types and numbers of trauma cases as well as non-trauma cases that presented to the ED in March and April 2020 with the same period two years prior. Our results showed a reduction during both months of lockdown compared to the same time period in 2018 with trauma cases in March 2020 down 33.14% and April 2020 down 57.93%. The non-trauma ED cases were down 2.52% in March and 37.43% in April compared to two years prior. When comparing only the last 6 days of March, a significant percentage decrease is visible as trauma cases fell from 20.79% in 2018 to just 8.58% of the total cases in 2020. In conclusion, our data showed a significant reduction in almost all types of ED cases during the lockdown period, but most significantly in trauma-related cases which was likely due, inter alia, to the prohibition of alcohol sales, gatherings and unnecessary travel.

Description

Keywords

Lockdown, Trauma, Emergency, Africa, COVID-19 pandemic, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Alcohol restriction

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Mncedisi Junior Manyoni, Muhammed Irfaan Abader, The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and alcohol restriction on trauma-related emergency department cases in a South African regional hospital, African Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 227-230, ISSN 2211-419X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2020.12.001.