Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

October 27, 2020

Hospitalizations for Chronic Disease and Acute Conditions in the Time of COVID-19

Category:

Topic:

Keywords (Tags):

A retrospective study of admissions to 4 hospitals in a New York health system found a substantial decrease in non-COVID-19 hospitalizations across a range of diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have been due in part to patient avoidance of emergency care for fear of COVID-19. Compared to baseline data from 2018 and 2019, hospitalization rates during the early pandemic (March 1 – March 21) were similar to baseline, decreased during the peak period (March 22-April 11), then slightly increased during the late period (April 12 to May 9). Admission diagnoses that had a significant decline during the peak COVID-19 period include septicemia, heart failure, and myocardial infarction.

Blecker et al. (Oct 26, 2020). Hospitalizations for Chronic Disease and Acute Conditions in the Time of COVID-19. JAMA Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.3978