TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on frequency of clinical visits, performance of MRI studies, and therapeutic choices in a multiple sclerosis referral centre
AU - Cobo-Calvo, Alvaro
AU - Zabalza, Ana
AU - Río, Jordi
AU - Arrambide, Georgina
AU - Otero-Romero, Susana
AU - Tagliani, Paula
AU - Cárdenas-Robledo, Simón
AU - Castillo, Mireia
AU - Espejo, Carmen
AU - Rodriguez, Marta
AU - Carbonell, Pere
AU - Rodríguez, Breogán
AU - Midaglia, Luciana
AU - Vidal-Jordana, Ángela
AU - Tur, Carmen
AU - Galan, Ingrid
AU - Castillo, Joaquín
AU - Comabella, Manuel
AU - Nos, Carlos
AU - Auger, Cristina
AU - Tintoré, Mar
AU - Rovira, Àlex
AU - Montalban, Xavier
AU - Sastre-Garriga, Jaume
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Introduction: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) number of clinical visits, (2) magnetic resonance (MR) scans, and (3) treatment prescriptions in a multiple sclerosis (MS) referral centre. Methods: Retrospective study covering January 2018 to May 2021. Results: The monthly mean (standard deviation [SD]) of visits performed in 2020 (814[137.6]) was similar to 2018 (741[99.7]; p = 0.153), and 2019 (797[116.3]; p = 0.747). During the COVID-19 period (2020 year), 36.3% of the activity was performed through telemedicine. The number of MR scans performed dropped by 76.6% during the “first wave” (March 14 to June 21, 2020) compared to the mean monthly activity in 2020 (183.5[68.9]), with a recovery during the subsequent two months. The monthly mean of treatment prescriptions approved in 2020 (24.1[7.0]) was lower than in 2019 (30[7.0]; p = 0.049), but similar to 2018 (23.8[8.0]; p = 0.727). Natalizumab prescriptions increased in the “first wave” and onwards, whereas anti-CD20 prescriptions decreased during the COVID-19 period. Conclusion: Maintenance of the number of clinical visits was likely due to telemedicine adoption. Although the number of MR dramatically dropped during the “first wave”, an early recovery was observed. Treatment prescriptions suffered a slight quantitative decrease during 2020, whereas substantial qualitative changes were found in specific treatments.
AB - Introduction: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) number of clinical visits, (2) magnetic resonance (MR) scans, and (3) treatment prescriptions in a multiple sclerosis (MS) referral centre. Methods: Retrospective study covering January 2018 to May 2021. Results: The monthly mean (standard deviation [SD]) of visits performed in 2020 (814[137.6]) was similar to 2018 (741[99.7]; p = 0.153), and 2019 (797[116.3]; p = 0.747). During the COVID-19 period (2020 year), 36.3% of the activity was performed through telemedicine. The number of MR scans performed dropped by 76.6% during the “first wave” (March 14 to June 21, 2020) compared to the mean monthly activity in 2020 (183.5[68.9]), with a recovery during the subsequent two months. The monthly mean of treatment prescriptions approved in 2020 (24.1[7.0]) was lower than in 2019 (30[7.0]; p = 0.049), but similar to 2018 (23.8[8.0]; p = 0.727). Natalizumab prescriptions increased in the “first wave” and onwards, whereas anti-CD20 prescriptions decreased during the COVID-19 period. Conclusion: Maintenance of the number of clinical visits was likely due to telemedicine adoption. Although the number of MR dramatically dropped during the “first wave”, an early recovery was observed. Treatment prescriptions suffered a slight quantitative decrease during 2020, whereas substantial qualitative changes were found in specific treatments.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Standards of care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122658664&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00415-021-10958-z
DO - 10.1007/s00415-021-10958-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 35001198
AN - SCOPUS:85122658664
SN - 0340-5354
VL - 269
SP - 1764
EP - 1772
JO - Journal of Neurology
JF - Journal of Neurology
IS - 4
ER -