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Analysis of institutional authors

Martin Cordobes, AngelaAuthorMiro, OCorresponding AuthorJimenez, SAuthor

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Analysis of the evolution of patients attended in Spanish emergency departments during the first wave of the pandemic

Publicated to:Anales Del Sistema Sanitario De Navarra. 44 (2): 243-252 - 2021-05-01 44(2), DOI: 10.23938/ASSN.0957

Authors: Alquézar-Arbé, A; Montava, IA; Miró, O; Jiménez, S; Piñera, P; Jacob, J; Martín, A; Llorens, P; Burillo-Putze, G; García-Lamberechts, EJ; Martín-Sánchez, FJ; del Castillo, JG

Affiliations

Hosp Gen Univ Reina Sofia, Serv Urgencias, Murcia, Spain - Author
Hosp Santa Creu & Sant Pau, Serv Urgencias, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Bellvitge, Serv Urgencias, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Canarias, Serv Urgencias, Tenerife, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Mostoles, Serv Urgencias, Madrid, Spain - Author
Inst Invest Sanitaria & Biomed Alicante ISABIAL, Alicante, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Hosp Clin, IDIBAPS, Serv Urgencias, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Complutense, Serv Urgencias, Hosp Clin San Carlos, IDISSC, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Miguel Hernandez, Hosp Gen Univ Alicante, Serv Urgencias, Alicante, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Background. To describe the number of visits (total and per COVID-19) attended by the Spanish hospital emergency departments (EDs) during March and April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, and to calculate the quantitative changes in healthcare activity and investigate the possible influence of hospital size and regional COVID-19 seroprevalence. Method. Cross-sectional study that analyzes the number of visits to Spanish public EDs, reported through a survey of ED chiefs during the study periods. Changes in healthcare activity were described in each autonomous community and compared according to hospital size and the regional impact of the pandemic. Results. The 66% of the 283 Spanish EDs participated in the study. The total number of patients attended decreased to 49.2% (<30% in the Castilla-La Mancha region), with a 60 % reduction in non-COVID-19 patients (reduction <50% only in the regions of Asturias and Extremadura). While there were no differences in changes of healthcare activity according to the size of the hospital, there were differences in relation to the regional impact of the pandemic, with a direct correlation related to the decrease in non-COVID-19 activity (the greater the impact, the greater the decrease; R-2 = 0.05; p = 0.002) and an inverse correlation to the overall activity (the greater the impact, the lesser the decrease; R-2 = 0.05; p = 0.002). Conclusion. There was a very significant decrease in the number of ED visits during the first pandemic wave, although this decrease cannot be explained solely by the local incidence of the pandemic.

Keywords

ArticleAvoidanceCoronavirus disease 2019Covid-19Cross-sectional studiesCross-sectional studyEmergency departmentEmergency service, hospitalEmergency wardHealth careHealth managementHospital emergency serviceHospital emergency servicesHumanHumansImpactMedical-careOutbreakOutcomesPandemicPandemicsSars-cov-2Seroepidemiologic studiesSeroepidemiologySeroprevalenceServeis d'urgències hospitalàriesSpaniardUnited-states

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Anales Del Sistema Sanitario De Navarra, and although the journal is classified in the quartile Q4 (Agencia WoS (JCR)), its regional focus and specialization in Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, give it significant recognition in a specific niche of scientific knowledge at an international level.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-06-23:

  • WoS: 3
  • Scopus: 4
  • Europe PMC: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-23:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 10.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 14 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/181760

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Miró Andreu, Òscar.