RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cohort study to explore the association between the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and admissions for violence in North East and North Cumbria
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e052923
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052923
VO 11
IS 12
A1 Andrea Brown
A1 Paul Collingwood
A1 Julia L Newton
YR 2021
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e052923.abstract
AB Objectives Explore the association between the first national lockdown associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions for violence and the relationship with deprivation.Design Population-based longitudinal cohort study.Setting North East and North Cumbria (NENC) area of England.Participants All individuals living in the NENC (total population 3.1 million) admitted 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020.Main outcome measures Hospital Episode Statistics were extracted at Lower Layer Super Output Area and the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 decile applied. Directly standardised rates were explored for number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances (per 1000); Alcohol-related admissions using Public Health England (PHE) Fingertips tool (per 100 000, ID 91414) and emergency admissions for violence (including sexual violence) (per 100 000) (ID 11201 classified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD)10 codes X85 to Y09).Results A&E attendances are higher in NENC compared with England (409.9 per 1000 v 359.2). A&E attendance was 81% higher in 2019/20 in the most deprived compared with the least deprived. Attendances dropped during the first national COVID-19 lockdown and by September 2020 had not returned to ‘normal’ levels.Admissions related to violence are a third higher in NENC (29% to 34% higher across 3 years) rates 7–10 times higher in most deprived than least deprived areas. Admission rates reduced during the first UK lock down but this bounced back by August higher than any of the previous 12 months.Conclusion Emergency admissions with violence appear to associate with the COVID-19 pandemic being initially higher than before the first national lockdown. This is in the context of overall A&E attendances which are lower post lockdown. Given that emergency admissions with violence have been consistently higher in the NENC compared with England over recent years, we suggest that targeted action is required in NENC to address health inequalities.Data are available in a public, open access repository. Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. The data are available publically via the Hospital Episodes Statistics and PHE Fingerprints tool. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics; https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/