Covid pandemic and stroke

Stroke and TIA are common diseases with serious consequences. Correct and timely started treatment is crucial to decrease the risk of recurrence but also to reduce the risk of poor outcome. The aim of the study is to follow demography, incidence, care, and outcome of stroke and TIA in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia before, during, and after the covid-19 pandemic, i.e. 2017-2022. Within and inbetween the regions data will be compared over time (weekly time trends during the pandemic) with numbers from earlier years (average from 2017- 2019) being baseline. For Sweden and Denmark, regional comparisons will be performed. For all research questions separate analysis as well as comparisons, will be performed for men and women, unadjusted and adjusted for age. Stratified analyses according to age and socioeconomic status will also be included.

The main hypothesis is that the covid-19 pandemic has affected both acute and post stroke care in the studied countries but to a various extent, partly associated with covid-19 spread within that region.