Trends in the number of patients from traffic accidents and the state of emergency

AIM: During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the number of traffic accidents and injured patients was reported to be lower than that before the pandemic. However, little is known regarding the relationship between periods of the state of emergency and the number of patients who met with traffic accidents. METHODS: The numbers of trauma patients and deaths due to traffic accidents in Tokyo and Osaka were collected monthly from the statistics published by the police department. A state of emergency was declared four times in both cities. The number of trauma patients and deaths was compared between the emergency and other periods. RESULTS: The number of monthly patients per 100,000 due to traffic accidents during the state of emergency was significantly lower than that during other periods in Tokyo (16.56 versus 18.20; P = 0.008) and Osaka (24.12 versus 28.79; P = 0.002). However, the monthly number of deaths during the state of emergency was not significantly different compared with those during the other periods in Tokyo (0.08 versus 0.08; P = 0.65) and Osaka (0.10 versus 0.14; P = 0.082). A decrease in the number of trauma patients was observed before the emergency period; however, the reduction rate dropped as the period passed. CONCLUSION: There were significantly fewer trauma patients due to traffic accidents during the state of emergency than during the other periods, with no significant difference in the number of deaths.