COVID-19: Stroke Admissions, Emergency Department Visits, and Prevention Clinic Referrals

We assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic on code stroke activations in the emergency department, stroke unit admissions, and referrals to the stroke prevention clinic at London’s regional stroke center, serving a population of 1.8 million in Ontario, Canada. We found...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 2020-09, Vol.47 (5), p.693-696
Main Authors: Bres Bullrich, Maria, Fridman, Sebastian, Mandzia, Jennifer L., Mai, Lauren M., Khaw, Alexander, Vargas Gonzalez, Juan Camilo, Bagur, Rodrigo, Sposato, Luciano A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Betacoronavirus
Brief Communications
Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - therapy
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Emergency Service, Hospital - trends
Humans
Ontario - epidemiology
Pandemics
Patient Admission - trends
Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - therapy
Referral and Consultation - trends
SARS-CoV-2
Stroke
Stroke - diagnosis
Stroke - epidemiology
Stroke - therapy
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Summary:We assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic on code stroke activations in the emergency department, stroke unit admissions, and referrals to the stroke prevention clinic at London’s regional stroke center, serving a population of 1.8 million in Ontario, Canada. We found a 20% drop in the number of code strokes in 2020 compared to 2019, immediately after the first cases of COVID-19 were officially confirmed. There were no changes in the number of stroke admissions and there was a 22% decrease in the number of clinic referrals, only after the provincial lockdown. Our findings suggest that the decrease in code strokes was mainly driven by patient-related factors such as fear to be exposed to the SARS-CoV-2, while the reduction in clinic referrals was largely explained by hospital policies and the Government lockdown.
ISSN:0317-1671
2057-0155
DOI:10.1017/cjn.2020.101