Maria Espinoza Vargas, Andrea S Gershon, Michael Pugliese, Ryan Jason Gotfrit, Douglas Manuel, Mohsen Sadatsafavi, Therese A Stukel, Teresa To, Claire E Kendall, Kednapa Thavorn, Rebecca Robillard, Tetyana Kendzerska
OBJECTIVES: We conducted a population-based study using Ontario health administrative data to describe trends in healthcare utilization and mortality in adults with epilepsy during the first pandemic year (March 2020-March 2021) compared to historical data (2016-2019). We also investigated if changes in outpatient visits and diagnostic testing during the first pandemic year were associated with increased risk for hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, or death. METHODS: Projected monthly visit rates (per 100,000 people) for outpatient visits, electroencephalography, magnetic resonance, computed tomography, all-cause ED visits, hospitalizations, and mortality were calculated based on historical data by fitting monthly time series autoregressive integrated moving-average models...
December 20, 2023: Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. le Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques