Chia Shermain, Xia Jiawen, Kwan Yu Heng, Lim Zhui Ying, Tan Chuen Seng, Low Sher Guan, Xu Bangyu, Loo Yu Xian, Kong Lai Yee, Koh Chee Wai, Towle Rachel Marie, Lim Su Fee, Yoon Sungwon, Seah Sharna Si Ying, Low Lian Leng
Post-Acute and Continuing Care, Outram Community Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
Research and Translational Innovation Office, Singhealth Community Hospitals, Singapore, Singapore.
Front Health Serv. 2023 Sep 5;3:1147698. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2023.1147698. eCollection 2023.
The COVID-19 is a global health issue with widespread impact around the world, and many countries initiated lockdowns as part of their preventive measures. We aim to quantify the duration of delay in discharge to community from Community Hospitals, as well as quantify adverse patient outcomes post discharge pre and during lockdown period.
We conducted a before-after study comparing the length of stay in Community Hospitals, unscheduled readmissions or Emergency Department attendance, patients' quality of life using EQ5D-5l, number and severity of falls, in patients admitted and discharged before and during lockdown period.
The average length of stay in the lockdown group (27.77 days) were significantly longer than that of the pre-lockdown group (23.76 days), = 0.003. There were similar proportions of patients with self-reported falls post discharge between both groups. Patients in the pre-lockdown group had slightly better EQ-5D-5l Index score at 0.55, compared to the lockdown study group at 0.49. Half of the patients in both groups were referred to Community Care Services on discharge.
Our study would help in developing a future systematic preparedness guideline and contingency plans in times of disease outbreak and other similar public health emergencies.
新冠疫情是一个全球性的健康问题，在全球范围内产生了广泛影响，许多国家实施封锁作为其预防措施的一部分。我们旨在量化社区医院患者出院至社区的延迟时间，并量化封锁前和封锁期间出院后患者的不良结局。
我们进行了一项前后对照研究，比较了封锁前和封锁期间入院并出院患者在社区医院的住院时间、非计划再入院或急诊就诊情况、使用EQ5D-5l评估的患者生活质量、跌倒次数和严重程度。
封锁组的平均住院时间（27.77天）显著长于封锁前组（23.76天），P = 0.003。两组出院后自我报告跌倒的患者比例相似。封锁前组患者的EQ-5D-5l指数得分略高，为0.55，而封锁研究组为0.49。两组中一半的患者出院时被转介至社区护理服务机构。
我们的研究将有助于制定未来在疾病爆发及其他类似公共卫生紧急情况时的系统准备指南和应急计划。
