Table 1.
Patient characteristics by ward setting and pandemic period
| Characteristic | Pre-pandemic (Jan 1, 2019–Feb 24, 2020) |
Pandemic (Feb 25, 2020–Jun 23, 2020) |
Comparison of periods* |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treated in a stroke unit |
Treated in a stroke unit |
|||||||
| No (n=5,226) | Yes (n=16,666) | P | No (n=1,750) | Yes (n=3,870) | P | P | ||
| Age (yr) | 0.083 | 0.062 | 0.643 | |||||
| <65 | 1,342 (26) | 4,198 (26) | 404 (23) | 1,009 (26) | ||||
| 65–74 | 1,236 (24) | 3,935 (24) | 433 (25) | 955 (25) | ||||
| 75–84 | 1,438 (28) | 4,951 (30) | 523 (30) | 1,130 (29) | ||||
| ≥85 | 1,051 (21) | 3,283 (20) | 373 (22) | 741 (19) | ||||
| Male | 2,635 (52) | 9,322 (57) | <0.001 | 924 (53) | 2,162 (56) | 0.034 | 0.636 | |
| Diagnosis | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.001 | |||||
| Intracerebral hemorrhage | 794 (16) | 1,786 (11) | 214 (15) | 443 (12) | ||||
| Ischemic stroke | 2,387 (48) | 12,781 (77) | 671 (47) | 2,885 (75) | ||||
| Transient ischemic attack | 1,633 (33) | 1,807 (11) | 490 (34) | 455 (12) | ||||
| Undetermined stroke | 194 (4) | 236 (1) | 60 (4) | 50 (1) | ||||
| In-hospital stroke | 353 (7) | 433 (3) | <0.001 | 77 (6) | 92 (2) | <0.001 | 0.367 | |
| Previous history of stroke | 1,029 (21) | 3,636 (22) | 0.150 | 214 (19) | 743 (21) | 0.105 | 0.012 | |
| Arrival by ambulance | 3,346 (73) | 12,478 (78) | <0.001 | 913 (77) | 2,913 (81) | 0.002 | <0.001 | |
| Transferred from another hospital | 547 (11) | 3,139 (19) | <0.001 | 118 (8) | 656 (17) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| Ability to walk on admission | 2,181 (48) | 6,432 (41) | <0.001 | 496 (47) | 1,384 (40) | <0.001 | 0.298 | |
| Median length of stay (day) (quartile 1-3) | 2 (1–5) | 4 (2–8) | <0.001 | 2 (1–5) | 4 (2–8) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
Values are presented as number (%) unless otherwise specified.
*
Patients within periods were aggregated in this comparison.