“Staying Home”—Early Changes in Patterns of Neurotrauma in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective New York City is the epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. Traumatic brain injury accounts for a significant proportion of admissions to our trauma center. We sought to characterize the effect of the pandemic on neurotraumas, given the cancellation of nonessential activities during the crisis. Methods Retrospective and prospective reviews were performed from November 2019 to April 2020. General demographics, clinical status, mechanism of trauma, diagnosis, and treatment instituted were recorded. We dichotomized the data between pre−COVID-19 (before 1 March) and COVID-19 periods and compared the differences between the 2 groups. We present the timeline of events since the beginning of the crisis in relation to the number of neurotraumas. Results A total of 150 patients composed our cohort with a mean age of 66.2 years (standard deviation ±18.9), and 66% were male. More males sustained neurotrauma in the COVID-19 period compared with the pre−COVID-19 (60.4% vs. 77.6%, P = 0.03). The most common mechanism of trauma was mechanical fall, but it was observed less frequently compared with the pre−COVID-19 period (61.4% vs. 40.8; P = 0.03). Subdural hematoma, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, and intracerebral contusion accounted for the most common pathologies in both periods. Nonoperative management was selected for most patients (79.2 vs. 87.8%, P = 0.201) in both periods. Conclusions A decrease in the frequency of neurotraumas was observed during the COVID-19 crisis concomitant with the increase in COVID-19 patients in the city. This trend began after the cancellation of nonessential activities and implementation of social distancing recommendations.

Decline and Recurrence of Stroke Consultations during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Parallels Population Activity Levels

“…While correlation cannot prove causality, we suggest that this strong correlation may indicate some kind of dependency in between these variables. This, for example, can be observed looking at the number of traumatic brain injuries during the CPL in New York [ 40 ]. Another explanation could be, on the other hand side, that there might be one or more other variables influencing both ischemic events and traffic data or that the COVID-19 pandemic event itself influences both the curves without any cau­sality between traffic and the consultation activity in TEMPiS.…”

“Locked up inside home” – Head injury patterns during coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic

“…Road traffic accidents and violence-related trauma showed a statistically significant increase in frequency during COVID-19 in their experience. [ 21 ]…”

Violent trauma as an indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of hospital reported trauma

“…Neither study assessed changes in violent trauma statistically. 35 , 36 The majority of studies were based in urban locations, with heavy bias towards high-income countries, including the United States (n = 14), 17 , 18 , 19 , 22 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 39 Australia (n = 2), 23 , 34 and Western Europe (n = 18). 20 , 21 , 24 , 26 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 Records were examined visually via placement of study results onto a world map.…”