COVID‐19 had no impact on emergency urological admissions at an Australian tertiary hospital

Best, Oliver v.; Armany, David; Murthy, Vinay; Handmer, Marcus; Mancuso, Pascal

BACKGROUNDS: The COVID‐19 pandemic is an unprecedented threat to health and healthcare systems. There is no published data on the impact on urological presentations in Australia. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all admissions under the urology service at Liverpool Hospital, Australia from February 1st to April 30th for 2020 and the previous 5 years. RESULTS: There was a total of 397 admissions in 2020 and 438 in 2019. The mean age, proportion of male, and mean length of stay were similar. In 2020, there were 229 emergency admissions. Over the same period during the previous 5 years, there were between 195 and 218 emergency admissions. In 2019, there were 220 planned admissions and 168 in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with admission longer than 10 days (P = 0.602), requiring intensive care unit admission (P = 0.708) or inpatient operative management (P = 0.171). Among the emergency admissions, the mean Charlson Comorbidity Index was significantly lower in 2020 compared to 2019 (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the pervasive fear of the COVID‐19 pandemic and multiple, substantial alterations to hospital systems, structures and elective operating restrictions, no significant difference in numbers or acuity of emergency admissions were observed. Due to limitations in elective operating, there was an expected reduction in planned admissions. Our findings are in contrast to multiple recent studies and may be the result of our patient demographic where health‐seeking behaviours appear to have not been significantly influenced by the pandemic.