TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the trauma incidence and modified its pattern in Al-Ain City, United Arab Emirates
JO  - European journal of trauma and emergency surgery
A1  - Alao, David Olukolade
A1  - Cevik, Arif Alper
A1  - Yasin, Yasin Jemal
A1  - Jaiganesh, Thiagarajan
A1  - Abu-Zidan, Fikri
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - AIM: We aimed to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pattern of injury and outcome of hospitalized trauma patients in Al-Ain City, United Arab Emirates, to use this information in the preparedness for future pandemics. <br><br>METHODS: We retrospectively compared the trauma registry data of all hospitalised trauma patients, who were treated at the two main trauma centres in Al-Ain City (Al-Ain Hospital and Tawam Hospital); those who were treated over 1 year before the pandemic (n = 2002) and those who were treated at the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 1468). <br><br>RESULTS: There was a 26.7% reduction in the overall incidence of trauma admissions in the COVID-19 pandemic period. The mechanism of injury significantly differed between the two periods (p < 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). There was an absolute increase in the number of injuries, due to machinery and falling objects during the pandemic (39.7% and 54.1% respectively, p < 0.001). In contrast, road traffic collisions and falls were reduced by 33.5% and 31.3%, respectively. Location significantly differed between the two periods (p < 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). There was an absolute increase of 18.4% in workplace injuries and a reduction of 39.3% in home injuries over the study period. In addition, we observed relatively more workplace injuries and fewer home injuries during the pandemic (11.3% and 42.8% compared with 7.1% and 52.4%, respectively). Mortality was similar between the two periods (1.8% compared with 1.2%, p = 0.16, Fisher's exact test). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has modified the trauma risk exposure in our population. It reduced trauma hospital admissions by around 27%. Work-related injuries, including falling objects and machinery injuries, were relatively higher during the pandemic. Prevention of work-related injuries should be an important component of preparedness for future pandemics.    Keywords: CoViD-19-Road-Traffic <p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1863-9933
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00068-022-01897-z
ID  - ref1
ER  -