Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures

Riemma, Gaetano; De Franciscis, Pasquale; Tesorone, Marina; Coppa, Egle; Schiattarella, Antonio; Billone, Valentina; Lopez, Alessandra; Cucinella, Gaspare; Gullo, Giuseppe; Carotenuto, Raffaela Maria

doi:10.3390/jcm12227097

Open AccessArticle

Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures

by

Gaetano Riemma

^1,*

,

Pasquale De Franciscis

¹,

Marina Tesorone

²,

Egle Coppa

¹,

Antonio Schiattarella

¹

,

Valentina Billone

³,

Alessandra Lopez

³

,

Gaspare Cucinella

³,

Giuseppe Gullo

³

and

Raffaela Maria Carotenuto

¹

Department of Woman, Child and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy

²

Local Health Services “Napoli 1 Centro”, 80138 Naples, Italy

³

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Villa Sofia Cervello Hospital, University of Palermo, 90146 Palermo, Italy

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(22), 7097; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12227097

Submission received: 8 October 2023 / Revised: 9 November 2023 / Accepted: 13 November 2023 / Published: 15 November 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in COVID-19 and Pregnancy)

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Abstract

Background: The national lockdown and the different restrictions applied in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic brought several changes to hospitalization procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the patterns in access to emergency services and hospitalization in a tertiary-care obstetric and gynecological emergency department (OG-ED) throughout the restrictions applied during 2020. Methods: A single-center retrospective comparative study on data from January to December 2020 was carried out on the following timeframes: January to February 2020 (before COVID-19 pandemic), March to June 2020 (nationwide lockdown period), July to September 2020 (removal of restrictive measures), October to December 2020 (regional lockdown) and compared to the same periods of 2019. All obstetric and gynecological patients with complete medical data admitted to the OG-ED were included. Results: Overall, 4233 accesses for 2019 and 3652 for 2020 were reported, with a decreasing trend of −13.7%. Between March and June 2020 (nationwide lockdown) and 2019, the overall number of patients attending the OG-ED decreased compared to July–September and October–December differences (Δ −23.5% vs. −3.1% and −5.9%; p = 0.001 respectively) for 2020–2019, but this reduction was not statistically significant when compared to January–February (Δ −23.5% vs. −18.5%; p = 0.356). No significant differences for obstetric patients (Δ −1.8% vs. −1.0% vs. −2.3% and +1.9% respectively; p = 0.883) were noted. Hospitalizations showed a stable trend with an increase between October–December 2019 and 2020 (Δ +4.6%; p = 0.001 vs. January–February (+2.4%) and March–June (+2.6%) 2019–2020), mainly related to regional lockdowns. Conclusions: In contrast to available national studies, in our institution, the overall rate of OG-ED admissions was slightly reduced with a similar trend of decrease even before COVID-19, with an increase in admissions for serious issues, despite expectations that the suspension of elective admissions and outpatient services would have led to an increase in non-urgent hospitalizations during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

Keywords: COVID-19; hospital admissions; emergency care; obstetric urgency; lockdown; restrictions

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MDPI and ACS Style

Riemma, G.; De Franciscis, P.; Tesorone, M.; Coppa, E.; Schiattarella, A.; Billone, V.; Lopez, A.; Cucinella, G.; Gullo, G.; Carotenuto, R.M. Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 7097. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12227097

AMA Style

Riemma G, De Franciscis P, Tesorone M, Coppa E, Schiattarella A, Billone V, Lopez A, Cucinella G, Gullo G, Carotenuto RM. Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2023; 12(22):7097. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12227097

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riemma, Gaetano, Pasquale De Franciscis, Marina Tesorone, Egle Coppa, Antonio Schiattarella, Valentina Billone, Alessandra Lopez, Gaspare Cucinella, Giuseppe Gullo, and Raffaela Maria Carotenuto. 2023. "Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures" Journal of Clinical Medicine 12, no. 22: 7097. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12227097

APA Style

Riemma, G., De Franciscis, P., Tesorone, M., Coppa, E., Schiattarella, A., Billone, V., Lopez, A., Cucinella, G., Gullo, G., & Carotenuto, R. M. (2023). Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(22), 7097. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12227097

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Obstetric and Gynecological Admissions and Hospitalizations in an Italian Tertiary-Care Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis According to Restrictive Measures

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