Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on stroke admission rates in a Norwegian population.
Acta Neurol Scand
; 142(6): 632-636, 2020 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32620027
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
There are concerns that public anxiety around COVID-19 discourages patients from seeking medical help. The aim of this study was to see how lockdown due to the pandemic affected the number of admissions of acute stroke.METHODS:
All patients discharged from Akershus University Hospital with a diagnosis of transient ischemic attack (TIA) or acute stroke were identified by hospital chart review. January 3 to March 12 was defined as before, and March 13 to April 30 as during lockdown.RESULTS:
There were 21.8 admissions/week before and 15.0 admissions/week during the lockdown (P < .01). Patients had on average higher NIHSS during the lockdown than before (5.9 vs. 4.2, P = .041). In the multivariable logistic regression model for ischemic stroke (adjusted for sex, age, living alone and NIHSS ≤ 5), there was an increased OR of 2.05 (95% CI 1.10-3.83, P = .024) for not reaching hospital within 4.5 hours during the lockdown as compared to the period before the lockdown.CONCLUSION:
There was a significant reduction in number of admissions for stroke and TIAs during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stroke
/
COVID-19
/
Hospitalization
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
Acta Neurol Scand
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Noruega