Impact of The COVID-19 Pandemic on Neurology: Report from A General Hospital in Tokyo

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on neurology in Japan, by analyzing data on the number of neurological patients at our hospital in Tokyo.Material and Methods: We counted the number of inpatients and outpatients per month; from January 2018 to September 2020. We defined the data from April 2020 to May 2020, as the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that from July 2020 to September 2020, as the second wave. The data from each wave were compared to those in the same period within the previous 2 years. We also analyzed other data; including, inpatients with stroke, outpatients with Parkinson’s disease, and outpatients with epilepsy.Results: In the first wave, the overall number of inpatients and outpatients greatly decreased; however, the number of inpatients with stroke increased. The ratio of outpatients with Parkinson’s disease, or outpatients with epilepsy to total outpatients also increased. In the second wave, the overall number of inpatients markedly increased, while that of outpatients slightly decreased.Conclusion: All Japanese general hospitals were greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; especially in the first wave, even if the hospitals did not have in-hospital COVID-19 infection, or were not designated for COVID-19. Three factors; i.e. governmental, hospital, and patient factors, could affect the number of neurological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The numerical data reflecting the patients’ behavior might provide suggestions for addressing issues during other pandemics in the future.