Whether COVID-19 Affected Hospital Death Rate in Split - Dalmatia County, Croatia

The main aim of this study was to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected hospital death rate. A cross-sectional comparative study using two different periods, pre-COVID-19 (March 2019 to February 2020) and the COVID-19 era (March 2020 to February 2021) was employed to explore the possibilities of COVID-19 influencing hospital death rate in Split and Dalmatian County, Croatia. Data from the National Public Health Information System was used in this research. The indicators were statistically analyzed. The study showed that in the COVID-19 era, there was a significantly higher hospital death rate in comparison to the pre-COVID-19 era (z=-14.084; p