scholarly journals Hospitalization for ischemic stroke was affected more in independent cases than in dependent cases during the COVID-19 pandemic: An interrupted time series analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261587
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Nagano ◽  
Jung-ho Shin ◽  
Tetsuji Morishita ◽  
Daisuke Takada ◽  
Susumu Kunisawa ◽  
...  

Background The pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected health care systems globally. The aim of our study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of hospital admissions for ischemic stroke by severity in Japan. Methods We analysed administrative (Diagnosis Procedure Combination—DPC) data for cases of inpatients aged 18 years and older who were diagnosed with ischemic stroke and admitted during the period April 1 2018 to June 27 2020. Levels of change of the weekly number of inpatient cases with ischemic stroke diagnosis after the declaration of state of emergency were assessed using interrupted time-series (ITS) analysis. The numbers of patients with various characteristics and treatment approaches were compared. We also performed an ITS analysis for each group (“independent” or “dependent”) divided based on components of activities of daily living (ADL) and level of consciousness at hospital admission. Results A total of 170,294 cases in 567 hospitals were included. The ITS analysis showed a significant decrease in the weekly number of ischemic stroke cases hospitalized (estimated decrease: −156 cases; 95% confidence interval (CI): −209 to −104), which corresponds to −10.4% (95% CI: −13.6 to −7.1). The proportion of decline in the independent group (−21.3%; 95% CI: −26.0 to −16.2) was larger than that in the dependent group (−8.6%; 95% CI: −11.7 to −5.4). Conclusions Our results show a marked reduction in hospital admissions due to ischemic stroke after the declaration of the state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic. The independent cases were affected more in proportion than dependent cases.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Nagano ◽  
Daisuke Takada ◽  
Jung-ho Shin ◽  
Tetsuji Morishita ◽  
Susumu Kunisawa ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveThe epidemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the entire health care systems. Our aim was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the number and severity of cases for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Japan.MethodsUsing claims data from the Quality Indicator/Improvement Project (QIP) database, we included urgent cases of inpatients for CAP from August 1, 2018, to July 30, 2020. We compared the monthly ratio of inpatient cases from August 2018 to July 2019 and August 2019 to July 2020 as a year-over-year comparison. We also compared this ratio according to the severity score “A-DROP” and performed an interrupted time series analysis (ITS) to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the monthly number of inpatient cases.ResultsA total of 67,900 inpatient cases for CAP in 262 hospitals were included. During the COVID-19 epidemic (defined as the period between March and July 2020), the number of inpatient cases for CAP drastically decreased during the epidemic compared with the same period in the past year (−48.1%), despite only a temporary reduction in the number of other urgent admissions. The number of inpatient cases decreased according to the severity of pneumonia. Milder cases showed a greater decrease in the year-over-year ratio than severe ones (mild −55.2%, moderate −45.8%, severe −39.4%, and extremely severe − 33.2%). The ITS analysis showed that the COVID-19 epidemic reduced the monthly number of inpatient cases for CAP significantly (estimated decrease: −1233 cases; 95% CI, −521 to −1955).ConclusionsOur study showed a significant reduction in the number of inpatient cases for CAP during the COVID-19 epidemic in Japan. The milder cases showed a greater decrease in the year-over-year ratio of the number of inpatient cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ni Wang ◽  
Ying Yang ◽  
Luxinyi Xu ◽  
Zongfu Mao ◽  
Dan Cui

Abstract Background The Chinese government implemented the first round of National Centralized Drug Procurement (NCDP) pilot (so-called “4 + 7” policy) in mainland China in 2019. This study aims to examine the impact of “4 + 7” policy on the price of policy-related drugs. Methods This study used drug purchasing order data from the Centralized Drug Procurement Survey in Shenzhen 2019, covering 24 months from January 2018 to December 2019. “4 + 7” policy-related drugs were selected as study samples, including 25 drugs in the “4 + 7” procurement list and 57 alternative drugs that have an alternative relationship with “4 + 7” List drugs in clinical use. “4 + 7” List drugs were then divided into bid-winning and bid-non-winning products according to the bidding results. Single-group Interruption Time Series (ITS) analysis was adopted to examine the change of Drug Price Index (DPI) for policy-related drugs. Results The ITS analysis showed that the DPI of winning (− 0.183 per month, p < 0.0001) and non-winning (− 0.034 per month, p = 0.046) products significantly decreased after the implementation of “4 + 7” policy. No significant difference was found for the immediate change of DPI for alternative drugs (p = 0.537), while a significant decrease in change trend was detected in the post-“4 + 7” policy period (− 0.003 per month, p = 0.014). The DPI of the overall policy-related drugs significantly decreased (− 0.261 per month, p < 0.0001) after “4 + 7” policy. Conclusions These findings indicate that the price behavior of pharmaceutical enterprises changed under NCDP policy, while the price linkage effect is still limited. It is necessary to further expand the scope of centralized purchased drugs and strengthen the monitoring of related drugs regarding price change and consumption structure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Itoshima ◽  
Jung-ho Shin ◽  
Daisuke Takada ◽  
Tetsuji Morishita ◽  
Susumu Kunisawa ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there have been health concerns related to alcohol use and misuse. We aimed to examine the population-level change in cases of alcohol-related liver disease and pancreatitis that required admission during the COVID-19 epidemic by interrupted time series (ITS) analysis using claims data. We defined the period from April 2020, when the Japanese government declared a state of emergency, as the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. This ITS analysis included 3,026,389 overall admissions and 10,242 admissions for alcohol-related liver disease or pancreatitis from 257 hospitals between July 2018 and June 2020. The rate of admissions per 1000 admissions during the COVID-19 epidemic period (April 2020–June 2020) was 1.2 times (rate ratio: 1.22, 95% confidence interval: 1.12–1.33) compared to the pre-epidemic period. Analyses stratified by sex revealed that the increases in admission rates of alcohol-related liver disease or pancreatitis for females were higher than for males during the COVID-19 epidemic period. The COVID-19 epidemic in Japan might associates an increase in hospital admissions for alcohol-related liver disease and pancreatitis. Our study could support the concern of alcohol consumption and health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Martin ◽  
Edwin Amalraj Raja ◽  
Steve Turner

Abstract Background Service reconfiguration of inpatient services in a hospital includes complete and partial closure of all emergency inpatient facilities. The “natural experiment” of service reconfiguration may give insight into drivers for emergency admissions to hospital. This study addressed the question does the prevalence of emergency admission to hospital for children change after reconfiguration of inpatient services? Methods There were five service reconfigurations in Scottish hospitals between 2004 and 2018 where emergency admissions to one “reconfigured” hospital were halted (permanently or temporarily) and directed to a second “adjacent” hospital. The number of emergency admissions (standardised to /1000 children in the regional population) per month to the “reconfigured” and “adjacent” hospitals was obtained for five years prior to reconfiguration and up to five years afterwards. An interrupted time series analysis considered the association between reconfiguration and admissions across pairs comprised of “reconfigured” and “adjacent” hospitals, with adjustment for seasonality and an overall rising trend in admissions. Results Of the five episodes of reconfiguration, two were immediate closure, two involved closure only to overnight admissions and one with overnight closure for a period and then closure. In “reconfigured” hospitals there was an average fall of 117 admissions/month [95% CI 78, 156] in the year after reconfiguration compared to the year before, and in “adjacent” hospitals admissions rose by 82/month [32, 131]. Across paired reconfigured and adjacent hospitals, in the months post reconfiguration, the overall number of admissions to one hospital pair slowed, in another pair admissions accelerated, and admission prevalence was unchanged in three pairs. After reconfiguration in one hospital, there was a rise in admissions to a third hospital which was closer than the named “adjacent” hospital. Conclusions There are diverse outcomes for the number of emergency admissions post reconfiguration of inpatient facilities. Factors including resources placed in the community after local reconfiguration, distance to the “adjacent” hospital and local deprivation may be important drivers for admission pathways after reconfiguration. Policy makers considering reconfiguration might consider a number of factors which may be important determinants of admissions post reconfiguration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110132
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Konieczna ◽  
Sarah Grube Jakobsen ◽  
Christina Petrea Larsen ◽  
Erik Christiansen

Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse the potential impact from the financial crisis (onset in 2009) on suicide rates in Denmark. The hypothesis is that the global financial crisis raised unemployment which leads to raising the suicide rate in Denmark and that the impact is most prominent in men. Method: This study used an ecological study design, including register data from 2001 until 2016 on unemployment, suicide, gender and calendar time which was analysed using Poisson regression models and interrupted time series analysis. Results: The correlation between unemployment and suicide rates was positive in the period and statistically significant for all, but at a moderate level. A dichotomised version of time (calendar year) showed a significant reduction in the suicide rate for women (incidence rate ratio 0.87, P=0.002). Interrupted time series analysis showed a significant decreasing trend for the overall suicide rate and for men in the pre-recession period, which in both cases stagnated after the onset of recession in 2009. The difference between the genders’ suicide rate changed significantly at the onset of recession, as the rate for men increased and the rate for women decreased. Discussion: The Danish social welfare model might have prevented social disintegration and suicide among unemployed, and suicide prevention programmes might have prevented deaths among unemployed and mentally ill individuals. Conclusions: We found some indications for gender-specific differences from the impact of the financial crises on the suicide rate. We recommend that men should be specifically targeted for appropriate prevention programmes during periods of economic downturn.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document