GÖREV ALDIĞI BÖLÜMLER
TIBBİ BİYOLOJİ VE GENETİK
Evaluation of Older People's Presentations to the Emergency Department With Pain During and Before the COVID-19 Pandemic
By
Sofuoglu, ZSofuoglu, ZeynepDamar, HTDamar, Hale TurhanAlpagut, GSAlpagut, Gulsah SehitogluCalik, BCalik, BulentKebapci, EKebapci, EyupGulmez, HGulmez, HakanKurtulus, MKurtulus, MustafaDamar, MDamar, Muhammet
(provided by Clarivate)
Source
Volume
26
Issue
3
Page
312-318
DOI
10.1016/j.pmn.2024.12.007
Published
JUN 2025
Early Access
MAY 2025
Indexed
2025-06-20
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to determine the tendency of older adults to present to the emergency department with pain complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the prepandemic period. Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective study design was used. Data were collected from the electronic medical records of older people who presented to emergency departments with pain before (March 2019March 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020-July 2021). We identified 10 pain diagnosis groups using ICD-10 codes. Patient data were grouped and cleaned using SQL scripts on the Oracle database. Results: It was determined that 13.3% of 405,404 older people had presented to the emergency department with pain between March 2019 and July 2021. There was a 14.2% decrease in such admissions during the pandemic period. In the study, an increase was observed in the rates of older adults presenting to the emergency department with myalgia and joint pain. In contrast, the rates of those presenting with low back and neck pain, headache, eye pain, dysuria, and acute pain decreased during the pandemic. In the regression analysis, predictors for older adults' presentation to the emergency department with pain included age over 85 years (OR: 1.403), female gender (OR: 1.053), and myalgia (OR: 2.471). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, our study revealed fewer presentations to the emergency department for pain-related complaints. To prevent severe health problems from delayed care, we recommend expanding telemedicine, remote pain management, and home-based care. Further research is needed to examine the long-term effects of increased myalgia and joint pain. (c) 2024 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
COVID-19 Emergency Department Older People Pain Retrospective Trends