# Is COVID-19 associated with delayed treatment of road traffic injuries arriving at the emergency department?

## TL;DR

This study found that patients with road traffic injuries who tested positive for COVID-19 experienced longer treatment delays in emergency departments compared to those who tested negative.

## Contribution

The study provides new evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected treatment delays for road traffic injuries in emergency departments.

## Key findings

- Patients with confirmed COVID-19 had a significantly longer delay in treatment initiation compared to those who tested negative.
- Males had 1.80 times higher odds of treatment delay compared to females, after adjusting for other factors.
- About 65% of road traffic injury patients experienced treatment delays during the study period.

## Abstract

This study aims to determine the delay in treatment of road traffic injuries in the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of 373 RTI patients, the majority were males (312, 83.6%), and the mean ± SD age was 32.2 ± 17.4. Most injuries were fractures in the upper & lower limbs (236, 63.3%), and 302 (81.0%) underwent surgery. Of 373, 74 (19.8%) RTI patients were positive for COVID-19. The mean ± SD number of hours from ED arrival to treatment start in COVID-19 positive patients was 10.9 ± 6.7, while 6.4 ± 1.6 in negative patients. About 65% of the patients had a delay in treatment (n = 242). After 30 days of follow-up, 21 (5.6%) patients were dead. The adjusted odds of delay in treatment of RTI patients were 1.80 times (95% CI 1.27–2.45) in males compared to females. The adjusted odds of treatment delays in COVID-19 positive patients were 1.47 times (95% CI 1.13–1.92) compared to negative patients.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13104-026-07694-w.