Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32506198›Full record

Observational studyClinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society2020

The mystery of "missing" visits in an emergency cardiology department, in the era of COVID-19.; a time-series analysis in a tertiary Greek General Hospital.

Konstantinos Tsioufis, Christina Chrysohoou, Maria Kariori, Ioannis Leontsinis, Ioannis Dalakouras, Angelos Papanikolaou, Georgios Charalambus, Helen Sambatakou, Gerasimos Siasos, Demosthenes Panagiotakos and 1 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · bronzeAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Changes in Access to Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  15. Impact of COVID-19 on acute coronary syndrome-related hospitalizations: A pooled analysis.International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature · 2021
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  19. Response to paper by Tsioufis et al.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2020
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Konstantinos TsioufisFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece. ktsioufis@hippocratio.gr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7636-6725
Christina ChrysohoouFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Maria KarioriFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Ioannis LeontsinisFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Ioannis DalakourasFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Angelos PapanikolaouFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Georgios CharalambusEmergency Department, Hippocratio Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Helen Sambatakou2nd Department of Internal Medicine, HIV Unit, Medical School, Hippokration General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Gerasimos SiasosFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
Demosthenes PanagiotakosSchool of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
Dimitrios TousoulisFirst Cardiology Clinic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 Vass Sofias Ave, 11527, Athens, Greece.
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens · GRHarokopio University of Athens · GRHippocration General Hospital · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn the era of the current COVID-19 health crisis, the aim of the present study was to explore population behavior as regards the visits in the Εmergency Cardiology department (ECD) of a tertiary General Hospital that does not hospitalize SARS-CoV-2 infected patients METHODS AND

resultsDaily number of visits at the EDC and admissions to Cardiology Wards and Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary General Hospital, in Athens, Greece, were retrieved from hospital's database (January 1st-April 30th 2018, 2019 and 2020). A highly significant reduction in the visits at ECD of the hospital during March and April 2020 was observed as compared with January and February of the same year (p for linear trend < ·001); in particular the number of visits was 41.1% lower in March 2020 and 32.7% lower in April 2020, as compared to January 2020. As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout the country increased (i.e., from February 26th to April 2nd) the number of visits at ECD decreased (p = 0.01), whereas, the opposite was observed in the period afterwards (p = 0.01).The number of acute Myocardial infarctions (MI) cases in March 2020 was the lowest compared to the entire three year period (p < 0·001); however, the number of acute MI cases in April 2020 was doubled as compared to March 2020, but still was lower than the preceding years (p < 0·001).

conclusionsIt is hard to explain the mystery of the "missing" emergency hospital visits. However, if this decline in cardiovascular disease related hospital visits is "true", it is something that needs to be rigorously studied, to learn how to keep these rates down.

Indexed as

Patient Acceptance of Health CareCardiology Service, HospitalCardiovascular DiseasesCOVID-19Emergency Service, HospitalGreeceHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services Needs and DemandHospitals, GeneralHumansPatient AdmissionRetrospective StudiesTertiary Care CentersTime FactorsCovid19Emergency cardiological departmentMissing visits

Identifiers

PMID32506198
PMCPMC7275652
OpenAlexW3034114235

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.