COVID-19 Pandemisinin Kuzey Kıbrıs'ta Madde Bağımlılığı ve Aşırı Dozda Uyuşturucu Nedeniyle Acil Servis Başvurularına Etkisi

Abstract

Giriş: Aralık 2019'da Çin'de ortaya çıkan COVID-19 salgınının ardından birçok ülkede viral yayılım görülmeye başlandı. Mart 2020'de pandemi ilanıyla eş zamanlı olarak Kuzey Kıbrıs'ta da ilk vaka görüldü. Bu süre zarfında, acil servis ziyaretleri dünya çapında farklılıklar gösterdi. Amaç: Bu nedenle, bu çalışma, herhangi bir ilaç ve/veya madde zehirlenmesi nedeniyle pandemi öncesi ve pandemi dönemi acil servis başvuruları arasındaki farklılıkları karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, 1 Aralık 2017-9 Mart 2020 (pandemi öncesi) ve 10 Mart 2020-30 Haziran 2022 (COVID-19 pandemisi) tarihlerini kapsayan dönemde iki özel üniversite hastanesinin elektronik kayıt sistemleri kullanılarak retrospektif analiz yapılmıştır. Bulgular: Demografik veriler toplanmış ve çalışmaya özgü veriler 5 farklı zehirlenme kategorisine ayrılmıştır. Toplanan veriler, pandemi öncesi ve sonrası zaman ölçekleri açısından karşılaştırılmıştır. Sonuçlar, hastaların demografik verileri arasında anlamlı bir fark olmadığını, ancak zehirlenme ile ilgili acil servis başvurularının pandemi sırasında pandemi öncesine göre anlamlı derecede düşük olduğunu gösterdi. Sonuç: Bu çalışma, Kuzey Kıbrıs'ta daha önce bilimsel verilerden yoksun olan başta madde kullanımı olmak üzere birçok toplumsal soruna katkı sağlanmasında öncü olacaktır.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemisi
• acil servis başvuruları
• madde bağımlılığı
• aşırı doz

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Department Visits for Substance Addiction and Drug Overdose in North Cyprus

Abstract

Introduction: Following the COVID-19 outbreak in China in December 2019, viral spread started to be seen in many countries. In March 2020, simultaneous with the pandemic declaration, the first case was observed in Northern Cyprus. During this time, the emergency department visit patterns showed differences worldwide. Aim: Thus, this study aims to compare and contrast the differences between pre-pandemic and pandemic period emergency department visits resulting from any kind of drug and/or substance intoxication. To do so, a retrospective analysis was held using two private university hospitals’ electronic recording systems for the periods of 1st December 2017-9th March 2020 (before the pandemic) and 10th March 2020-30th June 2022 (during the COVID-19 pandemic). Results: The demographic data were collected, and the study-specific data were grouped into 5 different intoxication categories. Data collected were compared in terms of pre- and post-pandemic timescales. The results showed that there is no significant difference between the demographic data of patients however, intoxication-related emergency department visits were significantly lower during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion: This study will be a pioneer in contributing to many social problems, especially substance abuse, which was previously lacking in scientific data in Northern Cyprus.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemic
• emergency department visits
• substance addiction
• drug overdose

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