Comparison of causes of death in adult intensive care units between the one-year period of the COVID-19 pandemic and one year prior

AIM: In the past three years, the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated from the city of Wuhan in China, has had a widespread impact on the entire world, leading to the loss of millions of lives. Measures such as mask usage, social distancing, and lockdowns have caused changes in the social dynamics of societies. Understanding the causes of death and the statistics related to these causes is crucial for comprehending the social and health conditions within a population. The changes in the causes of death brought about by such a pandemic, which has led to significant mortality, have raised curiosity. MATERIALS and METHODS: The intensive care notes, consultation results, radiology and laboratory tests, and COVID-19 PCR results of patients who died in the adult intensive care units of Gaziantep University Şahinbey Research and Application Hospital have been retrospectively examined for a period of one year before and after the pandemic. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 22, considering parameters such as age and gender. RESULTS:The study was conducted with a total of 1820 patients, including 831 before the pandemic and 989 after the pandemic, who met the inclusion criteria. It was observed that the total number of deaths increased in the post-COVID period, and deaths related to COVID-19 were higher in males. CONCLUSIONS: The death statistics from this and similar studies can be informative regarding effective resource distribution in healthcare and the measures to be taken. KEYWORDS: COVID-19; Causes of death ; Emergency Medicine