Emergency care utilization and patients’ outcome before and after COVID-19 national lockdown in Iran: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 rapidly spread throughout the world. Stay-at-home and social distance strategies accompanied by fear of contamination with COVID-19 caused significant disruptions in daily life. The study focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency visit and patients’ outcome in the emergency department (ED). METHOD: Administrative and clinical data of 25-hospital EDs in Kermanshah province of Iran from February 20, 2020, to February 18, 2021, were retrospectively analyzed with the comparable periods in the previous year. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) was used to compare the differences between the pandemic and the pre-pandemic period. RESULT: The number of ED visits decreased nearly 50% after the declaration of a national lockdown. Moreover, the proportion of patients triaged in ESI 1 and 2 levels increased by 40 and 52%, respectively. The ratio of patients admitted to intensive care units and discharged against medical advice also increased significantly. CONCLUSION: Despite the number of ED visits sharply declining, the ratio of patients who came to EDs with higher acuity significantly increased. So, health authorities must sensitize the public about life-threatening signs and symptoms in such conditions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12873-023-00887-7.