Trends in stroke admissions before, during and post-peak of the COVID-19 pandemic: A one-year experience from the Qatar stroke database

Abstract

Background: Several reports document a decrease in the rates of stroke hospital admissions during the covid-19 pandemic. There is very little information whether the admission rates will change as the infection is controlled. We report on our rates of admissions before, during and following the peak of covid-19 infections in a prospective database from Qatar.

Methods and results: The stroke admissions in the six months prior to COVID-19 pandemic averaged 229/month. There was a decrease to 157/month in March-June during the peak of the pandemic. In the 6 months following the peak, as covid-19 numbers began to decrease, the average numbers increased back to 192/month. There was an increase in severe ischemic strokes and decreased in functional recovery. The decreased admissions were mainly driven by fewer stroke mimics. Patients presenting with ischemic stroke or cerebral hemorrhage remained unchanged.

Conclusions: Fewer stroke mimics presenting to the hospital can explain the fewer admissions and poor outcome at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. The continued decrease in the number of ischemic stroke and stroke mimic admissions following the pandemic peak requires more study.

Fig 1. Distribution of different discharge diagnosis per month during the pre-COVID-19, peak of the pandemic and in the six months following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of monthly COVID-19 cases are shown in the legend below. The “P” values are for group comparisons between the pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic time period.