Influence of COVID-19-Related Interventions on the Number of Inpatients with Acute Viral Respiratory Infections: Using Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Jin-Won Noh, Woo-Ri Lee, Li-Hyun Kim, Jooyoung Cheon, Young Dae Kwon and Ki-Bong Yoo ()
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Jin-Won Noh: Division of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Republic of Korea
Woo-Ri Lee: Division of Cancer Control & Policy, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, Republic of Korea
Li-Hyun Kim: Department of Healthcare Institution Support, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju 26464, Republic of Korea
Jooyoung Cheon: Department of Nursing Science, Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul 02844, Republic of Korea
Young Dae Kwon: Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Republic of Korea
Ki-Bong Yoo: Division of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-9

Abstract: After the first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and behavior change campaigns were implemented in South Korea. The social distancing policy restricted unnecessary gatherings and activities to prevent local transmission. This study aims to evaluate the effect of social distancing, a strategy for COVID-19 prevention, on the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients. This study used the number of hospitalized patients with acute respiratory infection from the Infectious Disease Portal of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) between the first week of January 2018, to the last week of January 2021. Intervention 1t represents the first patient occurrence of COVID-19, Intervention 2t represents the relaxing of the social distancing policy. We used acute respiratory infection statistics from Korea and segmented regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that the trend of the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients decreased after the implementation of the first patient incidence of COVID-19 due to prevention activities. After the relaxing of the social distancing policy, the number of inpatients with acute respiratory infections significantly increased. This study verified the effect of social distancing on the reduction in hospital admissions for acute respiratory viral infections.

Keywords: COVID-19; social distancing; acute respiratory infections; infectious disease; health policy; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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