A Research of Emergency Service Admission Due to Home Accidents before and during the Covid-19 (Sars-Cov-2) Pandemic in Ankara (Turkey)

INTRODUCTION: Home accidents can cause serious injuries, disabilities, and deaths. Approximately 40 million people were treated in hospitals annually because of injuries occurring in homes, and these injuries were responsible for approximately 76% of preventable deaths. The aims of this study are to compare the home accidents in the one-year period during the pandemic and the home accidents in the one-year period before the pandemic, and to reveal how the home accidents are affected in which part of the home and in which types of injuries.
METHODS: A retrospective study was made of the records of patients injured in home accidents between pre-pandemic and pandemic one-year periods. The patients were classified according to age groups, gender, season, day and time of the home accident, accident type, part of the home, trauma localization and type, and severity of injuries.
RESULTS: While 46.5% of the 581 injured patients were before the pandemic, 53.5% were in the pandemic period. The injuries increased as the number of households staying at home increased compared to the pre-pandemic period. Likewise, there was a significant increase in the number of falls from balconies and windows during the pandemic period.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It is still not possible to make a definite prediction about the course of the pandemic. In this context, it is of great importance to provide information on prevention from home accidents, especially in television programs and distance education activities.