Published online Aug 18, 2022. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v12.i8.250
Peer-review started: January 28, 2022
First decision: March 25, 2022
Revised: March 27, 2022
Accepted: July 25, 2022
Article in press: July 25, 2022
Published online: August 18, 2022
Processing time: 201 Days and 18.2 Hours
Several investigations have shown that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has an impact on daily life and the healthcare system.
There has been no previous research on the effects of COVID-19 on emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations among kidney transplant (KT) patients. We conducted this study to explore the effects of COVID-19 on ED visits among post-KT recipients.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ED visits and hospital admissions within 1 year in patients who underwent KT in Thailand.
We conducted a retrospective study. We reviewed hospital records of KT patients who visited ED during the outbreak of COVID-19. We used the previous 2 years as the control period in the analysis. We obtained baseline demographics and ED visit characteristics of each KT patient. The outcomes of interest were ED visits and ED visits leading to hospital admission within the 1st year following a KT.
We included a total of 263 patients: 112 during the COVID-19 period and 151 during the control period. There were 34 and 41 ED visits after KT in the COVID-19 and control periods, respectively. The rate of first ED visit at 1 year was not significantly different in the COVID-19 period, compared with the control period. The hospital admission rate was also similar between periods.
The COVID-19 pandemic had no effect on KT recipients’ ED visits or hospital admissions in the 1st year after transplantations.
Despite these findings, we suggest that communication between post-KT patients and healthcare professionals is crucial in emphasizing the significance of timely ED visits for acute health issues, especially in post-KT patients.