Higher clinical acuity and 7-day hospital mortality in non-COVID-19 acute medical admissions: prospective observational study

ObjectivesTo understand the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures on severity of illness and mortality in non-COVID-19 acute medical admissions.DesignA prospective observational study.Setting3 large acute medical receiving units in NHS Lothian, Scotland.ParticipantsNon-COVID-19 acute admissions (n=1682) were examined over the first 31 days after the implementation of the COVID-19 lockdown policy in the UK on 23 March 2019. Patients admitted over a matched interval in the previous 5 years were used as a comparator cohort (n=14 954).Main outcome measuresPatient demography, biochemical markers of clinical acuity and 7-day hospital inpatient mortality.ResultsNon-COVID-19 acute medical admissions reduced by 44.9% across all three sites in comparison with the mean of the preceding 5 years (pConclusionsThese data demonstrate a significant reduction in non-COVID-19 acute medical admissions during the early weeks of lockdown. Patients admitted during this period were of higher clinical acuity with a higher incidence of early inpatient mortality.