Impact of COVID-19 on the Volume of Acute Stroke Admissions: A Nationwide Survey in Japan

Bibliographic Details
Title: Impact of COVID-19 on the Volume of Acute Stroke Admissions: A Nationwide Survey in Japan
Authors: Takeshi YOSHIMOTO, Hiroshi YAMAGAMI, Nobuyuki SAKAI, Kazunori TOYODA, Yoichiro HASHIMOTO, Teruyuki HIRANO, Toru IWAMA, Rei GOTO, Kazumi KIMURA, Satoshi KURODA, Yuji MATSUMARU, Susumu MIYAMOTO, Kuniaki OGASAWARA, Yasushi OKADA, Yoshiaki SHIOKAWA, Yasushi TAKAGI, Teiji TOMINAGA, Masaaki UNO, Shinichi YOSHIMURA, Nobuyuki OHARA, Hirotoshi IMAMURA, Chiaki SAKAI
Source: Neurologia Medico-Chirurgica, Vol 62, Iss 8, Pp 369-376 (2022)
Publisher Information: The Japan Neurosurgical Society, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Subject Terms: coronavirus disease-2019, stroke, admission, nationwide survey, japan, Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571
More Details: This study aimed to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of annual stroke admissions compared with those before the pandemic in Japan. We conducted an observational, retrospective nationwide survey across 542 primary stroke centers in Japan. The annual admission volumes for acute stroke within 7 days from onset between 2019 as the pre-pandemic period and 2020 as the pandemic period were compared as a whole and separately by months during which the epidemic was serious and prefectures of high numbers of infected persons. The number of stroke patients declined from 182,660 in 2019 to 178,083 in 2020, with a reduction rate of 2.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.58%-2.44%). The reduction rates were 1.92% (95% CI, 1.85%-2.00%; 127,979-125,522) for ischemic stroke, 3.88% (95% CI, 3.70%-4.07%, 41,906-40,278) for intracerebral hemorrhage, and 4.58% (95% CI, 4.23%-4.95%; 13,020-12,424) for subarachnoid hemorrhage. The admission volume declined by 5.60% (95% CI, 5.46%-5.74%) during the 7 months of 2020 when the epidemic was serious, whereas it increased in the remaining 5 months (2.01%; 95% CI, 1.91%-2.11%). The annual decline in the admission volume was predominant in the five prefectures with the largest numbers of infected people per million population (4.72%; 95% CI, 4.53%-4.92%). In conclusion, the acute stroke admission volume declined by 2.51% in 2020 relative to 2019 in Japan, especially during the months of high infection, and in highly infected prefectures. Overwhelmed healthcare systems and infection control practices may have been associated with the decline in the stroke admission volume during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1349-8029
Relation: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/nmc/62/8/62_2022-0099/_pdf/-char/en; https://doaj.org/toc/1349-8029
DOI: 10.2176/jns-nmc.2022-0099
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/d9f21e939f3247838a4462dc281b0564
Accession Number: edsdoj.9f21e939f3247838a4462dc281b0564
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:13498029
DOI:10.2176/jns-nmc.2022-0099
Published in:Neurologia Medico-Chirurgica
Language:English