Delays in Stroke Onset to Hospital Arrival Time During COVID-19

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a global public health crisis, disrupting emergency healthcare services. We determined whether COVID-19 has resulted in delays in stroke presentation and affected the delivery of acute stroke services in a comprehensive stroke center in Hong Kong.

We retrospectively reviewed all patients with transient ischemic attack and stroke admitted via the acute stroke pathway of Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, during the first 60 days since the first diagnosed COVID-19 case in Hong Kong (COVID-19: January 23, 2020-March 24, 2020). We compared the stroke onset to hospital arrival (onset-to-door) time and timings of inpatient stroke pathways with patients admitted during the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID-19: January 23, 2019-March 24, 2019).

Seventy-three patients in COVID-19 were compared with 89 patients in pre-COVID-19. There were no significant differences in age, sex, vascular risk factors, nor stroke severity between the 2 groups (P>0.05). The median stroke onset-to-door time was ≈1-hour longer in COVID-19 compared with pre-COVID-19 (154 versus 95 minutes, P=0.12), and the proportion of individuals with onset-to-door time within 4.5 hours was significantly lower (55% versus 72%, P=0.024). Significantly fewer cases of transient ischemic attack presented to the hospital during COVID-19 (4% versus 16%, P=0.016), despite no increase in referrals to the transient ischemic attack clinic. Inpatient stroke pathways and treatment time metrics nevertheless did not differ between the 2 groups (P>0.05 for all comparisons).

During the early containment phase of COVID-19, we noted a prolongation in stroke onset to hospital arrival time and a significant reduction in individuals arriving at the hospital within 4.5 hours and presenting with transient ischemic attack. Public education about stroke should continue to be reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.