Decreasing referrals to transient ischaemic attack clinics during the COVID-19 outbreak: results from a multicentre
Lucio D'Anna1,2, Ambreen Sheikh3, Raj Bathula4
1Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK l.danna@imperial.ac.uk.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a 28.6% drop in transient ischaemic attack (TIA) referrals to North West London clinics. This study highlights a significant decrease in TIA referrals during the pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted healthcare services, including stroke care, leading to reduced hospital admissions.
- Transient ischaemic attack (TIA) clinics are crucial for rapid assessment and management of stroke risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on referral rates to TIA clinics in North West London.
- To quantify the change in TIA referrals during the pandemic compared to the previous year.
Main Methods:
- A 100% response rate online survey was sent to TIA clinic leads in North West London in May 2020.
- The survey collected data on the number of suspected TIA referrals between March 1 and April 30, 2020 (COVID-19 period) and March 1 and April 30, 2019.
Main Results:
- TIA clinics in North West London received 440 referrals during the COVID-19 period, a 28.6% decrease from 616 referrals in the same period in 2019.
- Referrals in April 2020 saw a more substantial decline of 40.1% compared to April 2019.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced referrals for suspected TIA to rapid access outpatient clinics in North West London.
- Further research is necessary to validate these findings and understand cerebrovascular disease incidence during the pandemic.
Objective:
The COVID-19 pandemic is having major implications for stroke care with a documented significant fall in hospital acute stroke admissions. We investigated whether COVID-19 has resulted in a decreased number of referrals to the transient ischaemic attack (TIA) clinics across the North West London region.
Setting And Design:
All the TIA clinical leads of the North West London region received an invitation by email to participate in an online survey in May 2020. The survey questionnaire aimed to assess the number of patients with suspected TIA consecutively referred to each of the TIA clinics of the North West London region between 1 March and 30 April 2020, the COVID-19 period, and between 1 March and 30 April 2019.
Results:
We had a response rate of 100%. During the COVID-19 period, the TIA clinics of the North West London region received 440 referrals compared with 616 referrals received between 1 March and 30 April 2019 with a fall in the number of the referrals by 28.6%. In April 2020 compared with April 2019, the number of the referrals declined by 40.1%.
Conclusions:
This multicentre analysis documented a significant reduction in the number of patients referred with suspected TIA to the specialised rapid access outpatient clinics in the North West London region during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings and to better characterise the incidence of cerebrovascular disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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