Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neuroimaging scan volumes at a teaching hospital.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a widespread socioeconomic shutdown, including medical facilities in many parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on neuroimaging utilisation at an academic medical centre in the United States caused by this shutdown. METHODS: Exam volumes from 1 February 2020 to 11 August 2020 were calculated based on patient location, including outpatient, inpatient and emergency, as well as modality type, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. 13 March 2020 was designated as the beginning of the shutdown period for the radiology department and 1 May 2020 was designated as the reopening date. The scan volumes during the pre-shutdown, shutdown and post-shutdown periods were compared using t-tests. RESULTS: Overall, neuroimaging scan volumes declined significantly by 41% during the shutdown period and returned to 98% of the pre-shutdown period levels after the shutdown, with an estimated 3231 missed scans. Outpatient scan volumes were more greatly affected than inpatient scan volumes, while emergency scan volumes declined the least during the shutdown. In addition, the magnetic resonance imaging scan volumes declined to a greater degree than the computed tomography scan volumes during the shutdown. CONCLUSION: The shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial but transient impact on neuroimaging utilisation overall, with variable magnitude depending on patient location and modality type.