MORMOR-COVID: MORbidity and MORtality during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented measures have been taken to protect the Norwegian population from being infected. From mid-March 2020 the health care system has shifted priorities towards COVID-19 patients. Most elective out-patient and in-patient contacts have been cancelled or considerably delayed. In addition, acute admissions for non- COVID-19 related diseases (such as cardiovascular events) is reported to be lower than usual during the pandemic. Sweden, on the other hand, have implemented fewer restrictions.

We aim to investigate admission rates, information at discharge (e.g. diagnoses and vital status) and mortality rates. We will also compare the implementation of measures against COVID-19, to previous years to assess the effect on hospital admissions from non-COVID-19 diseases, as well as the all-cause and cause-specific mortality between the Norwegian and Swedish populations. We will analyse data from all Norwegian hospital trusts, as well as national registries in Norway and Sweden, collected during the pandemic and preceding years. By this study, we aim to investigate how the drastic measures introduced in Norway have affected the population’s health, and compare this with the different strategy of Sweden.