• J. Neurol. Sci. · Sep 2020

    COVID-19 and stroke: Experience in a Ghanaian healthcare system.

    • Fred S Sarfo, Naa Oboshie Mensah, Francis Agyapong Opoku, Nathaniel Adusei-Mensah, Michael Ampofo, and Bruce Ovbiagele.
    • Department of Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana. Electronic address: stephensarfo78@gmail.com.
    • J. Neurol. Sci. 2020 Sep 15; 416: 117044.

    BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) causes multi-system disease including possibly heightened stroke risk. Data from high-income countries (HIC) suggest disruptions to care delivery with reduced stroke admissions and administration of acute stroke reperfusion therapies. We are unaware of any published data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke admissions and outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.PurposeTo compare rates of stroke admissions and case fatality between corresponding periods in 2020 and 2019, within a hospital system in Ghana, to assess the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe compared monthly stroke admissions and mortality rates between January to June 2020 vs. January to June 2019 at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a tertiary medical center in Ghana. Predictors of in-patient mortality were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression model.ResultsStroke admissions were higher in January to June 2020 vs. January to June 2019 (431 vs. 401), an increase of +7.5% (95% CI: 5.1-10.5%). There was also a rise in recurrent stroke admissions in 2020 vs. 2019 (19.0% vs. 10.9%, p = .0026). Stroke case fatality trended higher in 2020 vs. 2019 (29.3% vs. 24.2%, p = .095) with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.22 (95% CI: 0.89-1.68).ConclusionWhile an influence of secular trends cannot be excluded, the COVID-19 outbreak coincided with a comparatively significant rise in initial and recurrent stroke admissions at this Ghanaian tertiary hospital. Continued surveillance at this hospital, as well as assessment of this issue at other sites in Africa is warranted.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…