9.L. Workshop: Injury epidemiology, treatment, costs and legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-INJ, EUPHA-PHMR, EUPHA-EPI, EUPHA-ECO,   Chair persons: Maria Papadakaki (EUPHA-INJ), João Vasco Santos (EUPHA-ECO)
Published: October 2021

The recent lockdown and containment measures have brought about major changes in the daily routines of people and this resulted in profound changes in the cause of injury (e.g. traffic, falls, interpersonal violence) and nature of injury (e.g. hip fracture, traumatic brain injury). Despite the changes in the aetiologies, injuries remained frequent throughout the pandemic. Evidence from the COVID-19 period suggest a decrease in road traffic crashes, work and leisure injuries and a noteworthy increase in interpersonal violence and self-harm. These different causes and patterns of injury have brought about changes in the clinical characteristics and demand of health services. Hospitals have experienced organisational constraints with redeployment of medical staff in different units and suspension of non-emergency medical activity. At the same time, new priorities have been set for hospital admissions and new protocols have been developed to guide the emergencies' pathways and clinical/health services approach. Non-essential medical treatment has been postponed with increased risk of delayed treatment, late recovery and mortality from causes different than COVID-19, including injury complications. The impact of COVID-19 in the provision and coverage of health services needs to be urgently mitigated, including the treatment and rehabilitation from physical and psychological effects of untreated injuries. This is expected to place additional pressure on the health systems and increase health care costs. Hospital discharge data are a potentially valuable source of information for injury prevention planning yet there is much work to be done on the improvement of hospital and injury data quality.

The workshop aims to discuss the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of injuries, as well as the barriers of maintaining (or even improving) data quality during the different phases of the pandemic. The workshop will further discuss hospital demand and will identify the challenges for the health systems in handling the complex needs of vulnerable patients under serious restrictions. The workshop will also highlight the legal and regulatory measures taken and their level of efficacy in promoting free movement of workers within EU but also the right to work guaranteed under ECHR and ILO Conventions and Declaration. The high human and societal costs as well as inequalities of injury mortality and burden will be highlighted based on comparisons with long-term trends. The workshop will contribute to the identification of evidence-informed strategies and will promote effective planning and optimization of health services response for future pandemics.

Key messages

The new map of injuries resulting from COVID-19 pandemic is likely to affect health care targets and priorities. Evidence-informed strategies are necessary to capture the magnitude and address the after-COVID effects and the health burden of untreated conditions.