Vol. 12, Issue 12 (2023)

Background: Healthcare providers had to adapt to a significant drop in patients visiting emergency departments (EDs) in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to comparable periods in 2019 or 2018. Aim: In attempt to mitigate the potential effects on community healthcare & healthcare providers, this study compared the demographics & frequency of patients visiting hospital emergency units prior to and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study compared emergency room visits in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and looked for patterns in patient demographics to see if any patterns emerged. The data pertaining to a private hospital in Riyadh city, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was retrieved from an open-source data repository.

Result: The results demonstrated that there was no statistically significant change in the number of patients visiting the emergency department from 2018 to 2019, but there was a discernible decline from 2019 to 2020.

Conclusion: Some patient groups showed a decrease in emergency department visits, but not all. The results show that emergency department attendance varies, which hospital administration should be aware of to prevent unfavorable outcomes.