@Article{,
AUTHOR = {Zoe S. Gan, Cheyenne Williams, Olivia O. Familusi, Ayah El-Fahmawi, Rayan Kabaha, Daniel J. Lee, David I. Lee},
TITLE = {Urologic emergencies before and after COVID-19: a retrospective chart review},
JOURNAL = {Canadian Journal of Urology},
VOLUME = {28},
YEAR = {2021},
NUMBER = {2},
PAGES = {10614--10619},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/CJU/v28n2/60334},
ISSN = {1488-5581},
ABSTRACT = {Introduction: During the coronavirus disease 2019 
(COVID-19) pandemic, decreased presentations for 
various emergent conditions have been observed. 
Our objective was to compare the volume of patients 
with urologic emergencies presenting to emergency 
departments (EDs) within a single health system before 
and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and methods: A retrospective chart review 
was performed for 3 EDs within a single health system 
in the United States to identify all ED consults to 
urology from January 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020. For 
emergent consults, covariates were extracted, including 
demographic information, insurance status, Charlson 
Comorbidity Index (CCI) score, travel distance from home 
to the ED, and whether the patient had seen a provider 
in the hospital system before. Data were compared between COVID-19 months (March-May 2020) and 
corresponding months in 2019.
Results: The study period encompassed 1,179 consults 
and 373 urologic emergencies. We observed not only 
a 22% decrease in urologic presentations to the ED 
compared to corresponding months in 2019, but also a 
54% decrease in the proportion of urologic presentations 
that were truly emergent. For patients with emergent 
diagnoses, April 2020 saw an increase in Medicare/
Medicaid coverage and a decrease in private insurance, 
May 2020 saw a decreased travel distance from home to 
the ED, and March and May 2020 saw an increase in 
patients who had previously seen a health system provider 
outside of the ED. No changes were seen in demographic 
characteristics or CCI.
Conclusions: During the early COVID-19 pandemic, 
urologic emergencies within a single health system 
decreased by 54% compared to the corresponding months 
pre-pandemic. Those who do present for care may be 
influenced by both locality and provider familiarity.},
DOI = {}
}