ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2020
Changes in Demographic and Diagnostic Spectra of Patients with Neurological Symptoms Presenting to an Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- [Potential Impact of Public Communication on Emergency Presentations due to Headache during the Covid-19 Pandemic].Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) · 2024Article
- Experience of a Neuro-Emergency Expert in the Emergency Department during One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Decreased admissions and change in arrival mode in patients with cerebrovascular events during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.Neurological research and practice · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo analyse the characteristics of patients with neurological complaints seeking evaluation in an interdisciplinary emergency department (ED) during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
methodsIn this retrospective study, data on the number of ED presentations due to neurological complaints in weeks 1-15/2020 were collected. In addition, hospital chart data of patients referred for neurological evaluation during weeks 12-15/2020 when the pandemic began impacting on public life in Germany were analysed regarding demographic information, chief complaints, modes of presentation and disposition and ED discharge diagnosis. Both data sets were compared to respective periods from 2017.
resultsDuring the surge of COVID-19, we found a significant decrease of the total number of neurological ED patients by 47.6%. Comparing weeks 12-15 of 2017 and 2020, we found a decrease in the number of patients of <30 years (p<0.001) and an increase of those 70 years (p<0.001). A higher proportion of patients were admitted to escalated care (p=0.03), and fewer patients were discharged against medical advice (p<0.001). In addition, the ratio of less acute diagnoses (eg, benign headaches) declined significantly.
conclusionOur findings suggest that the pandemic has contributed to a - potentially transient - reframing of laypeople's perception of urgency and necessity for emergency presentation. The establishment and promotion of health-care structures and services like telemedical consultations and the creation of safe ED environments will be essential to enable adequate delivery of care in potential future waves of the pandemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.