Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of injuries during lockdown in Norway

Abstract

Aims: In order to prevent a major outbreak of COVID-19 disease in Norway, a series of lockdown measures was announced on 12 March 2020. The aim of the present paper was to describe the impact of this lockdown on the treatment of injuries. Methods: We collected hospital data on injury diagnoses from a national emergency preparedness register established during the pandemic. We identified the number of injured patients per day in the period 1 January–30 June 2020, and analysed the change in patient volumes over two three-week periods before and during the lockdown by sex, age, level of care, level of urgency, type of contact and type of injury. Results: Compared to pre-lockdown levels, there was an overall reduction of 43% in injured patients during the first three weeks of lockdown. The decrease in patient contacts did not differ by sex, but was most pronounced among young people. Substantial reductions were observed for both acute and elective treatment and across all levels of care and types of contact, with the exception of indirect patient contacts. The change in patient contacts varied considerably by injury type, with the largest reduction observed for dislocations/sprains/strains. The decrease was much lower for burns/corrosions and poisoning. Conclusions: A substantial reduction in the treatment of injuries was observed during lockdown in Norway. Possible explanations for this finding include an overall decrease in injury risk, a redistribution of hospital resources and a higher threshold for seeking medical attention as a result of the pandemic.

Effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic at a major Danish trauma center in 2020 compared with 2018–2019: A retrospective cohort study

“…A nationwide study from Norway compared all injuries from a national registry of emergencies in the 3 weeks of lockdown to three prior weeks in 2020 and found a 43.4% reduction in overall admissions. 26 Our numerical but not statistically significant reduction in trauma admissions in the first month of lockdown was smaller than at other major trauma centers. The absolute decrease of trauma patients (7.5 patients) and traffic injuries combined (10.5 patients) were limited and therefore hampers interpretation.…”

Cycling injuries requiring orthopaedic intervention during the first COVID-19 lockdown period: A multi-centre SCottish Orthopaedic Research collaborativE (SCORE) study

“…demonstrated that for a similar time period, the overall number of patients undergoing surgery for musculoskeletal trauma in Scotland decreased during the first lockdown. 16 An overall reduction in musculoskeletal injuries requiring operative intervention during lockdown was also observed in France, 17 and Norway 18 during this time period. Therefore, the increase in hospital admissions from cycling injuries likely reflects the higher numbers of patients requiring operative strategies for their injuries over conservative management.…”

Prevalence of Sports Injuries before and during COVID-19 Quarantine among Adults of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…On the other hand, a Portuguese and Netherlands study showed similar findings where the upper limb had a higher frequency of injury location [22,25]. Seeking medical interventions for injuries during quarantine became significantly low (22.9%) compared to the time before the quarantine (45.5%), an overall reduction of 22.6% between the 2 periods, which might be due to the strict COVID-19 regulation of emergency departments and surgical units that required adaptation of the spaces and emergency rooms that impacted the maximum capacity of the medical centers or due to the decrease in the number of injuries [26,27]. Similarly, in Brazil, an epidemiological study related to CrossFit athletes showed similar findings in which 42.0% of participants who get injured reported seeking a health care professional to diagnose or treat an injury [28].…”