Table 1.
Characteristics and COVID-19 pre-pandemic-to-pandemic clinical caseloads of the European autonomic centers involved versus non-involved in clinical autonomic education and research
| Variable | Clinical autonomic education | Clinical autonomic research | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Involved labs | Non-involved labs | p value | Involved labs | Non-involved labs | |
| (n = 29) | (n = 17) | (n = 41) | (n = 5) | ||
| Head of the laboratory | |||||
| Female (%) | 9 (31%) | 9 (52.9%) | 0.212 | 17 (41.5%) | 1 (20%) |
| Age (years) | |||||
| 30–39 | 5 (17.2%) | 3 (17.6%) | 0.689 | 8 (19.5%) | 0 |
| 40–49 | 15 (51.7%) | 6 (35.3%) | 20 (48.8%) | 1 (20%) | |
| 50–59 | 7 (24.1%) | 7 (41.2%) | 10 (24.4%) | 4 (80%) | |
| 60–69 | 2 (6.9%) | 1 (5.9%) | 3 (7.3%) | 0 | |
| Years into practice | |||||
| Resident | 1 (3.4%) | 1 (5.9%) | 0.235 | 2 (4.9%) | 0 |
| Junior consultant (0–4 years) | 0 | 1 (5.9%) | 1 (2.4%) | 0 | |
| Consultant (5–9 years) | 3 (10.3%) | 1 (5.9%) | 4 (9.8%) | 0 | |
| Senior consultant (10–19 years) | 13 (44.8%) | 3 (17.6%) | 15 (36.6%) | 1 (20%) | |
| > 20 years | 12 (41.4%) | 11 (64.7%) | 19 (46.3%) | 4 (80%) | |
| Geographical localization* | 20 (69%):9 (31%) | 10 (59%):7 (41%) | 0.534 | 25 (61%):16 (39%) | 5 (100%):0 (0%) |
| Cumulative number of staff members | 9 (7–12) | 7 (6–13) | 0.755 | 8 (6–12) | 10 (8–24) |
| No. of TTT/year before COVID-19 | 150 (55; 300) | 50 (42; 175) | 0.06 | 120 (50; 252) | 40 (24; 200) |
| No. of outpatient visits/year before COVID-19 | 220 (150; 400) | 113 (65; 250) | 0.06 | 200 (100; 340) | 100 (;) |
| No. of inpatient visits/year before COVID-19 | 20 (5; 95) | 50 (1; 125) | 0.79 | 25 (5; 118) | 4 (;) |
| No. of TTT in the 1st pandemic year | 66 (30; 161) | 20 (1; 75) | 0.016 | 60 (20; 118) | 15 (5; 145) |
| No. of outpatient visits in the 1st pandemic year | 140 (50; 235) | 45 (15; 90) | 0.034 | 110 (40; 210) | 80 (;) |
| No. of inpatient visits in the 1st pandemic year | 10 (2; 43) | 7 (0; 38) | 0.438 | 10 (1; 46) | 3 (;) |
| Percentage reduction in TTT/year | −50% (−67%; −27%) | −47% (−92%; −20%) | 0.45 | −50% (−75%; −24%) | −29% (−80%; −10%) |
| Percentage reduction in outpatient visits/year | −43% (−61%; −10%) | −50% (−72%; −10%) | 0.563 | −50% (−66%; −18%) | −20% (;) |
| Percentage reduction in inpatient visits/year | −50% (−86%; −14%) | −56% (−98%; −23%) | 0.41 | −53% (−88%; −20%) | −35% (;) |
| No. of inhabitants in the referral area | |||||
| ≤ 500,000 | 6 (20.7%) | 6 (35.3%) | 0.651 | 9 (22%) | 3 (60%) |
| 500,000–1,000,000 | 13 (44.8%) | 7 (41.2%) | 18 (43.9%) | 2 (40%) | |
| 1,000,000–5,000,000 | 9 (31%) | 3 (17.6%) | 12 (29.3%) | 0 | |
| > 5,000,000 | 1 (3.4%) | 1 (5.9%) | 2 (4.9%) | 0 | |
| Closure of TTT labs during the pandemic | 21 (75%) | 10 (58.8%) | 0.326 | 29 (72.5%) | 2 (40%) |
| Length of closure of the TTT labs, in months | 2 (2; 5) | 5 (4; 9) | 0.072 | 5 (2; 9) | 2 (;) |
| Closure of outpatient clinics during the pandemic | 17 (60.7%) | 10 (58.8%) | 1 | 25 (62.5%) | 2(40%) |
| Length of closure of outpatient clinics, in months | 2 (2; 5) | 5 (2; 9) | 0.486 | 5 (2; 9) | 2 (;) |
| Closure of inpatient clinics during the pandemic | 12 (42.9%) | 8 (47.1%) | 1 | 20 (50%) | 0 |
| Length of closure of inpatient clinics, in months | 2 (2; 8) | 5 (2; 9) | 0.348 | 2 (2; 9) | – |
Comparisons between centers involved and non-involved in clinical autonomic research were not performed due to the low number of centers not involved in research (n = 5)
Statistically significant differences are highlighted in bold
No./n , number; TTT, tilt-table tests
*Northern/Western Europe versus Southern/Eastern Europe