透過急診病人流分析COVID-19對醫學中心急診之影響

The impact of COVID-19 on the emergency department of a medical center by patient flow analysis

目標：透過急診病人流分析，探討新型冠狀病毒（COVID-19）對於對醫學中心急診之衝擊。方法：本研究為回溯性研究，藉由急診檢傷資料，利用描述性統計、獨立t檢定、卡方檢定及不同變異數單因子變異數等統計分析探討急診檢傷人次之變化。結果：急診檢傷人次較去年同期下降了16.6％，其中兒科病人、外傷科病人、親友帶來之病人次皆呈現顯著差異的下降；檢傷分級僅檢傷1級病人無顯著差異。結論：急診總體檢傷病人數量在疫情期間的確是下降的；面對新興傳染病時，考驗醫療院所的應變策略及整備能力，未來醫療院應訂定相關應變計畫並進行相關演練，以確保未知新興傳染病發生時能及時因應，才能確保病人能獲得適當治療及安置，避免影響病人就醫安全及品質。

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the emergency department of a medical center through patient flow analysis. Method: This retrospective study was extracted from triage database of emergency department. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, independent sample t test, the Chi-Squared test and Welch's test for analysis of variance. Result: The number of emergency attendance decreased by 16.6% compared with the same period of last year. Among them, the number of emergency attendance of pediatric patients, and trauma patients, patients brought by relatives and friends all showed a significant difference, and there was no significant difference in patients categorized as triage 1. Discussion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of emergency attendance decreased significantly. Contingency strategy and preparedness capabilities of the hospital are put into test when facing emerging infectious diseases. The hospital should ensure patients can receive appropriate treatment and placement to avoid affecting safety and quality of patients' medical treatment by developing and conducting relevant contingency strategies and drills in order to response in time when unknown emerging infectious diseases arise in the future.