Neurology: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of epilepsy centers in the United States.

Background: In the United States, an estimated 3.
4 million people suffer from epilepsy
.

Despite treatment with antiepileptic drugs (ASMs), about 30% of people continue to have seizures

In the United States, an estimated 3.

Methods: We compared data reported from all 260 NAEC Level 3 and 4 accredited epilepsy centers in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2020
.

Data were described using frequencies of categorical variables and medians of continuous variables and analyzed by central level, central population category, and geographic location

Table Median staffing, admissions, LOS, and surgical volume by center demographics
.

Table Median staffing, admissions, LOS, and surgical volume by center demographics
.

 

Panel A EMU admissions by NAEC center level or patient population; Panel B Changes in total surgery
.

A violin plot at the center level and an overlapping boxplot with median and IQR also show smoothed densities for different values

Panel A EMU admissions by NAEC center level or patient population; Panel B Changes in total surgery

In the United States, access to care for people with epilepsy declined during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Ahrens SM, Ostendorf AP, Lado FA, et al.
Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Epilepsy Center Practice in the United States.
Neurology 2022 Mar 15 Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Epilepsy Center Practice in the United States.
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