Highlights • Social distancing was enforced during COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. • Patient visits for ankle sprain on COVID-19 pandemic dropped by 8%. • This reduction was more considerable (22%) among school-aged children. • This can be due to decreased physical activity because of school closure. Social distancing measures including school closure and the cancelation of sports activity were enforced during the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in South Korea. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nationwide burden of musculoskeletal injury in 2020, we analyzed data on the number of patient visits for ankle sprain in South Korea. We collected national reimbursement data on the number of patient visits for ankle sprain between August 2010 and July 2020. To quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of reductions in patient visits for ankle sprain, we developed a regression model adjusting for the annual cycle of the patient visit during 2016/17–2018/19. During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, the overall number of patient visits for ankle sprain dropped by 7.9%. The number of patient visits for ankle sprain substantially reduced by 23.4% among school-aged children (6–19 years) during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Our findings suggest that the social distancing measure has had a positive impact on reducing the burden of medical usages for ankle sprain.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, social distancing, Injury, school closure, Musculoskeletal, Ankle sprain, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, coronavirus, pandemic, physical activity, children, COVID-19 pandemic, Spread, Regression model, Patient, South Korea, reduction, acute respiratory syndrome, early phase, measure, National, positive, analyzed, collected, the patient, reduced, reducing, reductions in, reduce, dropped, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 pandemic, Retrospective study, Patient, South, Decreased,