Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Musculoskeletal Care in the Emergency Room

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented public health measures and societal shifts.
• Understanding its impact on healthcare utilization beyond direct COVID-19 care is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency room (ER) utilization for musculoskeletal (MSK) complaints.
• To quantify changes in ER encounters for MSK conditions before and during the pandemic.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of ER encounter data from an academic hospital for 2019 and 2020.
• Utilized ICD-10-CM codes for primary diagnosis classification.
• Applied joinpoint regression to time-series data to identify significant changes in daily all-cause and MSK encounters.

Main Results:

• A significant decline in daily ER encounters was observed starting March 2020, with an 8.1% drop in all-cause and 1.2% in MSK encounters.
• The year 2020 saw a net decrease of 33.2% in all-cause and 35.8% in MSK ER encounters compared to 2019.
• Reductions were noted across all sexes and age groups, with the largest declines in low back pain, joint pain, and limb pain diagnoses.

Conclusions:

• The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial reductions in ER visits for both general and MSK complaints at an academic hospital.
• Governmental restrictions and altered patient behaviors likely contributed to decreased ER utilization.
• The sustained reduction implies that patients may have delayed seeking necessary care for MSK and other conditions.