The Impact of the Covid-19 Outbreak on Emergency Room Attendances of Surgical Patients

General Surgery Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Outbreak on Emergency Room Attendances of Surgical Patients at a Tertiary Medical Center

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04338672
• Other study ID #: SMC-20-7078-YZ-CTIL
• Status: Recruiting
• Start date: April 5, 2020
• Est. completion date: April 1, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: April 2020
• Source: Sheba Medical Center
• Contact: Roi Anteby, MD
• Phone: 19293011120
• Email: roi.anteby[@]sheba.health.gov.il
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Since December 2019, when the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) spread throughout the world, data have been needed on the effects of the pandemic on various aspects of healthcare systems. Recommendations for social distancing and quarantine decrees made by local governments, alongside the general public fear from the spread of the virus, are presumed to have markedly affected the trends in hospitals visits. Understanding the exact nature of the effect is critical for better anticipating and preparing health systems in the event of future outbreaks and in the post outbreak period. Therefore we intend to To identify retrospectively all patients who presented to the emergency department at our medical institute between January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. We will examine the impact of COVID-19 on the rates of surgical emergency visits, ratio of surgical visits to non-surgical visits, the ratio of severe presentations to non-severe presentations, and the impact of age on ED attendance.

Description:

Since December 2019, when the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) spread throughout the world, data have been needed on the effects of the pandemic on various aspects of healthcare systems. Recommendations for social distancing and quarantine decrees made by local governments, alongside the general public fear from the spread of the virus, are presumed to have markedly affected the trends in hospitals visits. Understanding the exact nature of the effect is critical for better anticipating and preparing health systems in the event of future outbreaks and in the post outbreak period. Additionally, deferring hospitals visits can potentially put patients at increased risk for morbidity and mortality, especially in postsurgical patients. Evaluating the impact of the pandemic on patient volume can guide decision-making in future scenarios.

Previous infectious disease outbreaks have been shown to impact ED volumes: The US Hantavirus outbreak in 1993 led to a 2-fold increase in ED visits; Escherichia coli 0157:H7 outbreak in Washington state in 1993 increased ED visits by 17%; However, the 2003 SARS outbreaks in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Toronto reduced tertiary care ED visits by up to 47 percent.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 10000
• Est. completion date: April 1, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: April 1, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients visiting the ER of Sheba Medical Center between January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients less than 18 years of age

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Emergencies
• Emergency Service, Hospital
• General Surgery

Intervention

Other:
• COVID-19 Pandemic
Exposure: the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Israel	Sheba Medical Center	Ramat Gan

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Sheba Medical Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Israel, 

References & Publications (2)

Chen WK, Cheng YC, Chung YT, Lin CC. The impact of the SARS outbreak on an urban emergency department in Taiwan. Med Care. 2005 Feb;43(2):168-72. — View Citation

Heiber M, Lou WY. Effect of the SARS outbreak on visits to a community hospital emergency department. CJEM. 2006 Sep;8(5):323-8. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Rates of emergency visits needing surgical consult		January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Primary	The ratio of severe presentations to non-severe presentations		January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Secondary	The impact of age on ED attendance rates		January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Secondary	Differences in ED surgical visits (in terms of capacity and severity) of surgical patients depending on the presentation and the co morbidity		January 1 - March 31 in the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020