This is a territory-wide study to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) attendances and acute ward admissions for seizures. Adult patients who presented to the A&E with seizures from January 23, 2020 to March 24, 2020 (study period) were included and compared with parallel intervals from 2015 to 2019 (control periods). Pre-existing time trend in control periods and potential changes during COVID-19 were analyzed by Poisson, negative and logistic regression models. A&E attendances and ward admissions for seizures decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 319 and 230 recorded ward admissions and A&E attendances for seizures were identified during the study period in 2020, compared to 494 and 343 per annum respectively in the control periods. The ratio of acute ward admission per A&E attendance for seizures did not change significantly. Intensive care utility and mortality rates remained stable. For some patients, delaying medical attention due to fear of nosocomial COVID-19 cross-infection may lead to severe or even life-threatening consequences. This change in medical help-seeking behavior calls for new medical care models to meet the service gap. Education to epilepsy patients and their caregivers is of utmost importance during this pandemic.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 对癫痫相关急诊就诊和入院的影响——一项全港性观察性研究

这是一项全港性研究，旨在调查 COVID-19 大流行对急症室 (A&E) 出勤率和癫痫发作急性病房入院率的影响。包括在 2020 年 1 月 23 日至 2020 年 3 月 24 日（研究期）期间因癫痫发作而就诊于 A&E 的成年患者，并与 2015 年至 2019 年（对照期）的平行时间间隔进行比较。通过泊松、负回归和逻辑回归模型分析了控制期的预先存在的时间趋势和 COVID-19 期间的潜在变化。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，急诊室出勤率和癫痫病房入院人数显着减少。在 2020 年的研究期间，共确定了 319 和 230 例因癫痫病入院和急诊就诊的病房记录，而在对照期间分别为每年 494 例和 343 例。每次急诊就诊的癫痫发作率没有显着变化。重症监护效用和死亡率保持稳定。对于一些患者来说，由于害怕院内 COVID-19 交叉感染而延迟就医可能会导致严重甚至危及生命的后果。医疗求助行为的这种变化需要新的医疗模式来弥补服务缺口。在这次大流行期间，对癫痫患者及其护理人员的教育至关重要。医疗求助行为的这种变化需要新的医疗模式来弥补服务缺口。在这次大流行期间，对癫痫患者及其护理人员的教育至关重要。医疗求助行为的这种变化需要新的医疗模式来弥补服务缺口。在这次大流行期间，对癫痫患者及其护理人员的教育至关重要。