Decreased admissions and change in arrival mode in patients with cerebrovascular events during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic

Carolin Hoyer; Lenja Weber; Vesile Sandikci; Anne Ebert; Michael Platten; Kristina Szabo

doi:10.1186/s42466-020-00094-w

Decreased admissions and change in arrival mode in patients with cerebrovascular events during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic

Neurol Res Pract. 2020 Nov 16:2:47. doi: 10.1186/s42466-020-00094-w. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Carolin Hoyer¹, Lenja Weber¹, Vesile Sandikci¹, Anne Ebert¹, Michael Platten¹, Kristina Szabo¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Neurology and Mannheim Center for Translational Neuroscience, Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68135 Mannheim, Germany.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Investigating clinical characteristics of patients presenting with cerebrovascular events during the pandemic may provide valuable insight into further understanding the phenomenon of decreased stroke admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: Data of patients presenting with a cerebrovascular event to the emergency department during weeks 12-17/2020 were compared to data from the respective weeks in 2019.

Results: A significant reduction in the number of admissions by 35.9% (p = 0.005) was observed during the COVID-19 epoch. In addition, significantly more patients arrived by ambulance during the COVID-19 epoch (2019: 75.7%, 2020: 94.2%; p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Our data may have implications as to how campaigns raising awareness for serious medical conditions in the context of the pandemic should be framed.

Keywords: COVID-19; Emergency department; Stroke.