Cargando…
Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations
OBJECTIVES: This study highlights how socioeconomic trends in the emergency department (ED) for low-acuity visits change with the onset of COVID-19, identifies societal inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and demonstrates the geographical regions where these inequities occur. METHODS: We accesse...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Springer International Publishing
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9377289/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35969354 http://dx.doi.org/10.17269/s41997-022-00684-y |
_version_ | 1784768309268316160 |
---|---|
author | Hanscom, Daniel Dutton, Daniel J. |
author_facet | Hanscom, Daniel Dutton, Daniel J. |
author_sort | Hanscom, Daniel |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: This study highlights how socioeconomic trends in the emergency department (ED) for low-acuity visits change with the onset of COVID-19, identifies societal inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and demonstrates the geographical regions where these inequities occur. METHODS: We accessed 1,285,000 ED visits from 12 different facilities across New Brunswick from January 2017 to October 2020. Using a deprivation index developed by Statistics Canada as a measure of socioeconomic status, and controlling for additional factors, we perform a logistic regression to determine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on low-acuity visits of individuals from the most deprived quintile (Q5). We constructed a heat map of New Brunswick to highlight regions of high deprivation. RESULTS: The proportion of Q5 individuals in the ethnocultural composition domain accessing the ED for low-acuity visits increased from 22.91% to 24.72% with the onset of the pandemic. Our logistic regression showed the log odds of being considered Q5 in the ethnocultural composition domain when visiting the ED for a low-acuity reason increased by 6.3% if the visit occurred during the pandemic, and increased by 101.6% if the visit occurred in one of the 3 major regions of New Brunswick. CONCLUSION: Individuals visiting EDs for low-acuity reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be from the most diverse quintile in the ethnocultural domain, and the inequities were concentrated in the most urban regions in New Brunswick. This demonstrates that urban areas are where inequities are disproportionately faced for ethnically diverse individuals and demonstrates where policies could be focused. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9377289 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Springer International Publishing |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-93772892022-08-15 Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations Hanscom, Daniel Dutton, Daniel J. Can J Public Health Special Section on Equity and the COVID-19 Response in Canada: Quantitative Research OBJECTIVES: This study highlights how socioeconomic trends in the emergency department (ED) for low-acuity visits change with the onset of COVID-19, identifies societal inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and demonstrates the geographical regions where these inequities occur. METHODS: We accessed 1,285,000 ED visits from 12 different facilities across New Brunswick from January 2017 to October 2020. Using a deprivation index developed by Statistics Canada as a measure of socioeconomic status, and controlling for additional factors, we perform a logistic regression to determine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on low-acuity visits of individuals from the most deprived quintile (Q5). We constructed a heat map of New Brunswick to highlight regions of high deprivation. RESULTS: The proportion of Q5 individuals in the ethnocultural composition domain accessing the ED for low-acuity visits increased from 22.91% to 24.72% with the onset of the pandemic. Our logistic regression showed the log odds of being considered Q5 in the ethnocultural composition domain when visiting the ED for a low-acuity reason increased by 6.3% if the visit occurred during the pandemic, and increased by 101.6% if the visit occurred in one of the 3 major regions of New Brunswick. CONCLUSION: Individuals visiting EDs for low-acuity reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be from the most diverse quintile in the ethnocultural domain, and the inequities were concentrated in the most urban regions in New Brunswick. This demonstrates that urban areas are where inequities are disproportionately faced for ethnically diverse individuals and demonstrates where policies could be focused. Springer International Publishing 2022-08-15 /pmc/articles/PMC9377289/ /pubmed/35969354 http://dx.doi.org/10.17269/s41997-022-00684-y Text en © The Author(s) under exclusive license to The Canadian Public Health Association 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. |
spellingShingle | Special Section on Equity and the COVID-19 Response in Canada: Quantitative Research Hanscom, Daniel Dutton, Daniel J. Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title_full | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title_fullStr | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title_full_unstemmed | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title_short | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
title_sort | effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the socioeconomic composition of emergency department presentations |
topic | Special Section on Equity and the COVID-19 Response in Canada: Quantitative Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9377289/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35969354 http://dx.doi.org/10.17269/s41997-022-00684-y |
work_keys_str_mv | AT hanscomdaniel effectofthecovid19pandemiconthesocioeconomiccompositionofemergencydepartmentpresentations AT duttondanielj effectofthecovid19pandemiconthesocioeconomiccompositionofemergencydepartmentpresentations |