Abstract
Study Design:
A retrospective cohort study.
Objective:
The world was unprecedentedly struck by the new coronavirus in December 2019. Consequently, lockdown measures were imposed by many governments. Health-care services were reserved for emergencies and malignancies. Nevertheless, many patients who urgently needed these services did not present. This study estimates the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown measures on the patients’ flow in the outpatient clinic (OPC) and the operations for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms.
Methods:
This study is a retrospective cohort study performed in otolaryngology department of a tertiary care hospital which is a major referral center. All patients who attended the OPC and all operations performed for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms were counted from February 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 and compared with the previous year as a reference.
Results:
In 2020, the number of patients attending the otolaryngology OPC and the laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal surgeries showed a major drop, especially after imposing the lockdown measures. The total number of these operations in April and May 2019 dropped by 79% for the same period in 2020.
Conclusion:
An estimate of 79% of patients, who had been presenting for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms, did not show up due to indirect COVID-19 effect.
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