TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the care of severe burns in Japan
T2 - Repeated survey of specialized burn care facilities
AU - Kiyozumi, Tetsuro
AU - Saitoh, Daizoh
AU - Ogura, Takayuki
AU - Morino, Kazuma
AU - Takeda, Taichi
AU - Narumi, Atsushi
AU - Hashimoto, Ichiro
AU - Sasaki, Junichi
AU - Sakurai, Hiroyuki
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Japanese Society for Burn Injuries and National Defense Medical College , Japan. The funders were not involved in the analysis or interpretation of the data or the writing of the paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Background: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in 2020, has had a major impact on healthcare systems. The spread of COVID-19 has been reported to have affected the readiness to treat patients with burns worldwide. However, the existing reports have evaluated burn care status within a limited time period during the pandemic, and no report clarifies the change in the impact of infection status on burn care from the beginning of the pandemic to the present. Methods: Japanese Society for Burn Injuries–accredited burn care facilities were surveyed using questionnaires on April 9–23, 2020; June 23–July 6, 2020; July 9–21, 2021; and January 21–31, 2022. Differences between groups were evaluated using Friedman's test or Bonferroni's multiple comparison test, as appropriate. Results: From the 103 facilities included in the study, we received 85, 55, 56, and 58 responses in the first, second, third, and fourth surveys, respectively. We could continuously observe 34 facilities. The rate of acceptance of patients with severe burns improved significantly over time (P < 0.05). However, in the second and third surveys, there was an increase in the number of respondents who did not accept patients with burns irrespective of COVID-19 status. Conclusions: The number of facilities treating patients with burns who have COVID-19 is increasing; however, COVID-19 care may negatively impact routine burn care. It is necessary to continuously examine medical resource allocation through methods such as information sharing by academic societies.
AB - Background: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in 2020, has had a major impact on healthcare systems. The spread of COVID-19 has been reported to have affected the readiness to treat patients with burns worldwide. However, the existing reports have evaluated burn care status within a limited time period during the pandemic, and no report clarifies the change in the impact of infection status on burn care from the beginning of the pandemic to the present. Methods: Japanese Society for Burn Injuries–accredited burn care facilities were surveyed using questionnaires on April 9–23, 2020; June 23–July 6, 2020; July 9–21, 2021; and January 21–31, 2022. Differences between groups were evaluated using Friedman's test or Bonferroni's multiple comparison test, as appropriate. Results: From the 103 facilities included in the study, we received 85, 55, 56, and 58 responses in the first, second, third, and fourth surveys, respectively. We could continuously observe 34 facilities. The rate of acceptance of patients with severe burns improved significantly over time (P < 0.05). However, in the second and third surveys, there was an increase in the number of respondents who did not accept patients with burns irrespective of COVID-19 status. Conclusions: The number of facilities treating patients with burns who have COVID-19 is increasing; however, COVID-19 care may negatively impact routine burn care. It is necessary to continuously examine medical resource allocation through methods such as information sharing by academic societies.
KW - Burn care
KW - COVID-19
KW - Information sharing
KW - Resource allocation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.burns.2022.06.012
DO - 10.1016/j.burns.2022.06.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 35787968
AN - SCOPUS:85133669474
SN - 0305-4179
VL - 49
SP - 934
EP - 940
JO - Burns
JF - Burns
IS - 4
ER -