SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Temporal Association of Covid-19 Media Coverage With a Decline in Hospital Admissions for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke

Temporal Association of Covid-19 Media Coverage With a Decline in Hospital Admissions for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke

Back to course

Pdf Summary

This retrospective time-series study examined whether local COVID-19 media coverage in St. Louis was associated with fewer hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke. Researchers reviewed weekly AMI and stroke admissions from all nine acute care hospitals in St. Louis City and County, comparing December–May data from 2019–2020 with the same months in 2016–2019. They also tracked local newspaper and television COVID-19 coverage, all-cause mortality, and EMS calls for in-home cardiac arrest.<br /><br />The main findings were that AMI admissions dropped sharply in early April 2020, with a maximum decline of 37% compared with prior years. Stroke admissions also fell, reaching a maximum decline of 42% by late April. These declines strongly correlated with spikes in local media coverage of COVID-19, with Pearson correlations of -0.91 for AMI and -0.87 for stroke at zero lag. In contrast, EMS calls for in-home cardiac arrest did not change, while all-cause mortality increased by up to 49% in April 2020.<br /><br />The authors suggest that intense media coverage may have contributed to public fear and avoidance of hospitals, even for urgent conditions like AMI and stroke. They note that although the findings show a strong association, the study design cannot prove causality. The paper concludes that responsible media reporting and public messaging are important to reduce fear-driven delays in seeking emergency medical care during pandemics.

Asset Subtitle

Zaineb Viqas

Meta Tag

Author List David Meyers MD, Jeramey Stewart MD, Quazim Alayo MD, Zaineb Viqas

Category Research

Concept Acute Myocardial Infarction

Concept Stroke

Concept Hospital Admissions

Concept COVID Period

Concept Media

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization St Luke's Hospital

Presenting Author Zaineb Viqas

Track Outcomes Research

Keywords

COVID-19 media coverage

St. Louis

acute myocardial infarction

stroke admissions

hospital avoidance

retrospective time-series study

public fear

emergency medical care

all-cause mortality

EMS cardiac arrest calls

Acute Myocardial Infarction

Stroke

Hospital Admissions

COVID Period

Media