ABSTRACT
Background and Purpose: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a global public health crisis, disrupting emergency healthcare services. We determined whether COVID-19 has resulted in delays in stroke presentation and affected the delivery of acute stroke services in a comprehensive stroke center in Hong Kong. Method(s): We retrospectively reviewed all patients with transient ischemic attack and stroke admitted via the acute stroke pathway of Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, during the first 60 days since the first diagnosed COVID-19 case in Hong Kong (COVID-19: January 23, 2020-March 24, 2020). We compared the stroke onset to hospital arrival (onset-to-door) time and timings of inpatient stroke pathways with patients admitted during the same period in 2019 (pre-COVID-19: January 23, 2019-March 24, 2019). Result(s): Seventy-three patients in COVID-19 were compared with 89 patients in pre-COVID-19. There were no significant differences in age, sex, vascular risk factors, nor stroke severity between the 2 groups (P>0.05). The median stroke onset-to-door time was =1-hour longer in COVID-19 compared with pre-COVID-19 (154 versus 95 minutes, P=0.12), and the proportion of individuals with onset-to-door time within 4.5 hours was significantly lower (55% versus 72%, P=0.024). Significantly fewer cases of transient ischemic attack presented to the hospital during COVID-19 (4% versus 16%, P=0.016), despite no increase in referrals to the transient ischemic attack clinic. Inpatient stroke pathways and treatment time metrics nevertheless did not differ between the 2 groups (P>0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusion(s): During the early containment phase of COVID-19, we noted a prolongation in stroke onset to hospital arrival time and a significant reduction in individuals arriving at the hospital within 4.5 hours and presenting with transient ischemic attack. Public education about stroke should continue to be reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2020 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Ever since its first rise in the early 2010s, Open Government Data (OGD) has encountered fluctuating waves of momentum, but is now soaring again in relevance and popularity, propelled by the global megatrends in light of sustainable development and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Holding numerous socio-economic and political imperatives, as well as the practical objectives of enhancing people engagement and boosting government transparency and accountability, among others, OGD has found itself again as a potential means towards the accelerated implementation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in this Decade of Action. Nonetheless, there is an ongoing need to assess the actual sustainable public value of OGD. To this end, this paper continues the assessment of OGD development trends using the second pilot of the Open Government Data Index (OGDI), riding on the widely recognised and updated methodology of the United Nations E-Government Development Index. Through its three-pillar framework consisting of Policy, Platform and Impact, empirical analysis of the OGDI offered various global and regional trends and insights on the provision of key OGD features across all 193 Member States of the United Nations, while discussing OGD's potential impact in delivering sustainable outcomes. Acknowledging the limitations of the OGDI, however, this paper calls for further developing this index to better inform OGD policies and encourages other initiatives to further explore enhancements and develop research to enable richer, demand-driven, and outcome-oriented OGD assessments. © 2022 ACM.