@article{ref1,
title="Hospital discharges for substance-related injuries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive surveillance study using administrative data",
journal="CMAJ open",
year="2023",
author="Toigo, Stephanie and McFaull, Steven R. and Thompson, Wendy",
volume="11",
number="1",
pages="E54-E61",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated behavioural changes have contributed to an increase in substance-related hospital discharges, and has altered the injury epidemiology landscape in Canada. We sought to evaluate hospital discharges for substance-related injuries during the pandemic compared with prepandemic and to identify subpopulations that have been greatly affected by substance-related injuries during the first year of the pandemic. <br><br>METHODS: We compared data on hospital discharges in Canada from before the pandemic (March 2019-February 2020) with discharges during the first year of the pandemic (March 2020-February 2021) using the Discharge Abstract Database. We identified discharges for substance-related injuries using codes from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision. We calculated percent changes, age-standardized rates and age-specific rates of discharges for substance-related injuries. <br><br>RESULTS: Hospital discharges for substance-related injuries increased by 7.1% during the first year of the pandemic. Discharges for intentional injuries decreased by 6.3%, whereas unintentional substance-related injuries increased by 15.1% during this period. Male patients accounted for 95.6% of the increase in hospital discharges for substance-related injuries during the first year of the pandemic. We observed a percent increase among discharges for injuries related to alcohol, opioid, cannabinoid, hallucinogen, tobacco, volatile solvents, other psychoactive substances and polysubstance use. <br><br>INTERPRETATION: We observed an increase in hospital discharges for substance-related injuries during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the same time period before the pandemic. This work will provide useful insight into the ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future policy and health care planning related to substance use in Canada.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2291-0026",
doi="10.9778/cmajo.20220164",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20220164"
}