Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy

Background  To assess whether the imposition of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) national quarantine (March 10, 2020) resulted in a shift in the proportion of patients operated for hip fracture on the day of admission, the following day and two days after admission in the region of Piedmont,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jacopo Lenzi, Stefano Rousset, Maria Pia Fantini, Maria Michela Gianino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kerman University of Medical Sciences 2022-10-01
Series:International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4120_21f0aab9fe1c1bce66879d1ce0db28e9.pdf
_version_ 1811158736557834240
author Jacopo Lenzi
Stefano Rousset
Maria Pia Fantini
Maria Michela Gianino
author_facet Jacopo Lenzi
Stefano Rousset
Maria Pia Fantini
Maria Michela Gianino
author_sort Jacopo Lenzi
collection DOAJ
description Background  To assess whether the imposition of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) national quarantine (March 10, 2020) resulted in a shift in the proportion of patients operated for hip fracture on the day of admission, the following day and two days after admission in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. Methods  Interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) comparing hospitalization rate and timing of hip-fracture surgeries between pre- and post-quarantine period. The same data observed in Piedmont the year before were included as a control time series with no “intervention” (quarantine) in the middle of the observation period. Results  We found that 70.3% and 69.4% of hip-fracture patients received surgery within 2 days of hospital admission in the 16 weeks before and after the national quarantine, respectively. One-day surgery went from 46.0% to 46.5%, and same- day surgery from 13.3% to 12.4%. Unchanged trends were confirmed by ITSA after controlling for the 32-week time- series observed the year before. In the second week of March 2020, there was a borderline significant decrease in weekly hospital admissions for hip fractures as compared with that of the same week of March 2019 (–1.95 per 100 000, 95% CI = –4.10 to 0.21, P value = .075), followed by a weekly significant increase in the hospitalization rate (+0.14 per 100 000, 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.27, P value = .039), although the difference-in-differences of slopes failed to achieve statistical significance (0.19 per 100 000, 95% CI = –0.03 to 0.41, P value = .090). Conclusion  Our study shows that the timing of hip-fracture surgery was unchanged during the lockdown period. This suggests that  the healthcare systems can be resilient and able to guarantee a high-quality and safe healthcare to hipfracture patients, even in the most challenging working conditions.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T05:29:13Z
format Article
id doaj.art-8c66834e52d949f8995a9754d72ec135
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2322-5939
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-10T05:29:13Z
publishDate 2022-10-01
publisher Kerman University of Medical Sciences
record_format Article
series International Journal of Health Policy and Management
spelling doaj.art-8c66834e52d949f8995a9754d72ec1352023-03-07T09:11:45ZengKerman University of Medical SciencesInternational Journal of Health Policy and Management2322-59392022-10-0111102083208910.34172/ijhpm.2021.1034120Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern ItalyJacopo Lenzi0Stefano Rousset1Maria Pia Fantini2Maria Michela Gianino3Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Public Health Sciences and Paediatrics, Università di Torino, Torino, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Public Health Sciences and Paediatrics, Università di Torino, Torino, ItalyBackground  To assess whether the imposition of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) national quarantine (March 10, 2020) resulted in a shift in the proportion of patients operated for hip fracture on the day of admission, the following day and two days after admission in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. Methods  Interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) comparing hospitalization rate and timing of hip-fracture surgeries between pre- and post-quarantine period. The same data observed in Piedmont the year before were included as a control time series with no “intervention” (quarantine) in the middle of the observation period. Results  We found that 70.3% and 69.4% of hip-fracture patients received surgery within 2 days of hospital admission in the 16 weeks before and after the national quarantine, respectively. One-day surgery went from 46.0% to 46.5%, and same- day surgery from 13.3% to 12.4%. Unchanged trends were confirmed by ITSA after controlling for the 32-week time- series observed the year before. In the second week of March 2020, there was a borderline significant decrease in weekly hospital admissions for hip fractures as compared with that of the same week of March 2019 (–1.95 per 100 000, 95% CI = –4.10 to 0.21, P value = .075), followed by a weekly significant increase in the hospitalization rate (+0.14 per 100 000, 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.27, P value = .039), although the difference-in-differences of slopes failed to achieve statistical significance (0.19 per 100 000, 95% CI = –0.03 to 0.41, P value = .090). Conclusion  Our study shows that the timing of hip-fracture surgery was unchanged during the lockdown period. This suggests that  the healthcare systems can be resilient and able to guarantee a high-quality and safe healthcare to hipfracture patients, even in the most challenging working conditions.https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4120_21f0aab9fe1c1bce66879d1ce0db28e9.pdfquality of carehip fractureselderlycovid-19 pandemicinterrupted time seriesitaly
spellingShingle Jacopo Lenzi
Stefano Rousset
Maria Pia Fantini
Maria Michela Gianino
Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
International Journal of Health Policy and Management
quality of care
hip fractures
elderly
covid-19 pandemic
interrupted time series
italy
title Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
title_full Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
title_fullStr Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
title_full_unstemmed Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
title_short Impact of COVID-19 on Timing of Hip-Fracture Surgeries: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Pre/Post-Quarantine Period in Northern Italy
title_sort impact of covid 19 on timing of hip fracture surgeries an interrupted time series analysis of the pre post quarantine period in northern italy
topic quality of care
hip fractures
elderly
covid-19 pandemic
interrupted time series
italy
url https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4120_21f0aab9fe1c1bce66879d1ce0db28e9.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT jacopolenzi impactofcovid19ontimingofhipfracturesurgeriesaninterruptedtimeseriesanalysisoftheprepostquarantineperiodinnorthernitaly
AT stefanorousset impactofcovid19ontimingofhipfracturesurgeriesaninterruptedtimeseriesanalysisoftheprepostquarantineperiodinnorthernitaly
AT mariapiafantini impactofcovid19ontimingofhipfracturesurgeriesaninterruptedtimeseriesanalysisoftheprepostquarantineperiodinnorthernitaly
AT mariamichelagianino impactofcovid19ontimingofhipfracturesurgeriesaninterruptedtimeseriesanalysisoftheprepostquarantineperiodinnorthernitaly