Department of Urology, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.
Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
ANZ J Surg. 2021 Dec;91(12):2800-2805. doi: 10.1111/ans.17102. Epub 2021 Aug 2.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented threat to health and healthcare systems. There is no published data on the impact on urological presentations in Australia.
A retrospective analysis of all admissions under the urology service at Liverpool Hospital, Australia from February 1st to April 30th for 2020 and the previous 5 years.
There was a total of 397 admissions in 2020 and 438 in 2019. The mean age, proportion of male, and mean length of stay were similar. In 2020, there were 229 emergency admissions. Over the same period during the previous 5 years, there were between 195 and 218 emergency admissions. In 2019, there were 220 planned admissions and 168 in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with admission longer than 10 days (P = 0.602), requiring intensive care unit admission (P = 0.708) or inpatient operative management (P = 0.171). Among the emergency admissions, the mean Charlson Comorbidity Index was significantly lower in 2020 compared to 2019 (P = 0.009).
Despite the pervasive fear of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple, substantial alterations to hospital systems, structures and elective operating restrictions, no significant difference in numbers or acuity of emergency admissions were observed. Due to limitations in elective operating, there was an expected reduction in planned admissions. Our findings are in contrast to multiple recent studies and may be the result of our patient demographic where health-seeking behaviours appear to have not been significantly influenced by the pandemic.
COVID-19 大流行对健康和医疗保健系统构成了前所未有的威胁。目前尚无关于澳大利亚泌尿科就诊情况受其影响的相关数据。
对 2020 年 2 月 1 日至 4 月 30 日期间和前 5 年在澳大利亚利物浦医院泌尿科服务下住院的所有患者进行回顾性分析。
2020 年共有 397 例住院，2019 年为 438 例。平均年龄、男性比例和平均住院时间相似。2020 年有 229 例急诊入院。在过去 5 年的同期，急诊入院人数在 195 至 218 例之间。2019 年有 220 例计划入院，2020 年为 168 例。2019 年至 2020 年，住院时间超过 10 天的患者比例（P=0.602）、需要入住重症监护病房的比例（P=0.708）或接受住院手术治疗的比例（P=0.171）无显著差异。在急诊入院中，2020 年Charlson 合并症指数（CCI）均值明显低于 2019 年（P=0.009）。
尽管 COVID-19 大流行带来了广泛的恐惧，医院系统、结构和选择性手术限制也发生了重大改变，但紧急入院的人数和严重程度没有明显变化。由于选择性手术受限，预计计划入院人数会减少。我们的研究结果与最近的多项研究相反，这可能是由于我们的患者群体特征，他们的就医行为似乎并未受到疫情的显著影响。
