Effect of covid-19 pandemic on in-hospital mortality

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of the pandemic on hospital mortality and patient admission in four months since March 2020 when the Ministry of Health announced the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Turkey and the first wave occurred.
 Material-Method: This research is a single-centre, retrospective, cross-sectional descriptive study. It covers the periods between March 01 and Jun 30 of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
 Results: Between 2018-2020, 897522, 972799, and 395438 patients were admitted to our Hospital, respectively. It was observed that the number of admissions decreased by 55-60% in 2020 compared to the previous years (p=0.001). Moreover, 205318 (22.9%) of the admissions in 2018, 229278 (23.6%) of the admissions in 2019, and 1127293 (32%) of the admissions in 2020 were emergency room (ER) admissions. Especially in 2020, there was a significant increase in the overall in-hospital (p=0.001) and ER (p=0.001 mortality rates compared to previous years. In-hospital mortality was found to be higher, especially in patients with suspected COVID-19 (p=0.001). It was found that the number of deaths due to respiratory causes was significantly increased in 2020 compared to the previous years (p=0.001).
 Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in mortality rates and causes of mortality compared to previous years. Although the pandemic has affected all healthcare systems, ER and intensive care units (ICU) are seriously affected.

Evaluation of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nonhospital Cardiac Arrest Rates

“…In the study of Unal et al, it was determined that there was an increase in deaths due to respiratory causes during the pandemic period (14). Our study determined that chest pain and shortness of breath were the most common complaints of patients before cardiac arrest.…”