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September 8, 2026BMC Public HealthOpen Access

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department visits in region Stockholm: a population-based study between 2018-2021

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Authors

MDMegan DohenyJAJanne AgerholmBBBo Burström

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Overview

Population-based study reveals a sharp sustained decline in emergency department visits in adults, suggesting delayed or avoided essential medical care during the pandemic.

Key Points

  • To examine trends in all-cause emergency department visits, emergency care sensitive conditions, and external causes of morbidity across socio-demographic groups before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Conducted a population-based study of adults aged 18 years and older in Region Stockholm (N = 1,848,271) using electronic records from the National Patient Register between 2018 and 2021.
  • Tracked patterns across socio-demographic groups and performed an interrupted time series analysis to evaluate level and trend changes following the pandemic outbreak.
  • Weekly emergency department visits declined by -11.6 visits per week (95% CI, -13.8 to -9.3) during the pre-pandemic baseline period between week 1 of 2018 and week 10 of 2020.
  • An immediate level decrease of -1,175.0 visits per week (95% CI, -1,418.5 to -932.6) occurred at week 11 of 2020, with visit rates remaining suppressed through the end of 2021.
  • Reductions occurred across all socio-demographic groups and included decreases in visits for both external causes and emergency care sensitive conditions.

Cite This Study

Doheny et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa0091858e84d0ff5b47c41https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29278-w
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