Cargando…

The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany

The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects health care systems globally and leads to other challenges besides infection and its direct medical consequences. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) p...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wang, Rosi, Helf, Charlotte, Tizek, Linda, Neuhauser, Ruth, Eyerich, Kilian, Zink, Alexander, Eberlein, Bernadette, Biedermann, Tilo, Brockow, Knut, Boehner, Alexander
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7504311/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32858870
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176182
_version_ 1783584595281707008
author Wang, Rosi
Helf, Charlotte
Tizek, Linda
Neuhauser, Ruth
Eyerich, Kilian
Zink, Alexander
Eberlein, Bernadette
Biedermann, Tilo
Brockow, Knut
Boehner, Alexander
author_facet Wang, Rosi
Helf, Charlotte
Tizek, Linda
Neuhauser, Ruth
Eyerich, Kilian
Zink, Alexander
Eberlein, Bernadette
Biedermann, Tilo
Brockow, Knut
Boehner, Alexander
author_sort Wang, Rosi
collection PubMed
description The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects health care systems globally and leads to other challenges besides infection and its direct medical consequences. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic on the university dermatology outpatient clinic (UDOC) of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. We analyzed datasets from 2015 until 2020 extracted from the hospital information system database and our documented outpatient files regarding patient numbers, gender, age, and diagnoses. In 2020, case numbers of outpatient care declined significantly (p = 0.021) compared to previous years and was related to the timing of political announcements answering SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Additionally, during calendar week 10 to 15—the peak time of the spread of COVID-19 in Germany—the proportion of patients missing their consultation was significantly higher in 2020 than in 2019 (22.4% vs. 12.4%; p < 0.001). Gender-associated differences regarding absences were not detected, but patients aged 85 years or older were significantly more likely to miss their consultation compared to all other age groups (p = 0.002). Regarding different disease clusters, patients with chronic inflammatory skin diseases and infectious and malignant diseases were more likely to miss their consultation (p = 0.006). Noticeably, less patients with malignant diseases, and particularly malignant melanoma, were registered during this pandemic. Our data support the hypothesis that medically constructive prioritization might not be implemented properly by patients themselves. Identifying missed patients and catching up on their medical care apart from COVID-19 will pose an enormous challenge for health care systems globally.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7504311
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-75043112020-09-24 The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany Wang, Rosi Helf, Charlotte Tizek, Linda Neuhauser, Ruth Eyerich, Kilian Zink, Alexander Eberlein, Bernadette Biedermann, Tilo Brockow, Knut Boehner, Alexander Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects health care systems globally and leads to other challenges besides infection and its direct medical consequences. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic on the university dermatology outpatient clinic (UDOC) of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. We analyzed datasets from 2015 until 2020 extracted from the hospital information system database and our documented outpatient files regarding patient numbers, gender, age, and diagnoses. In 2020, case numbers of outpatient care declined significantly (p = 0.021) compared to previous years and was related to the timing of political announcements answering SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Additionally, during calendar week 10 to 15—the peak time of the spread of COVID-19 in Germany—the proportion of patients missing their consultation was significantly higher in 2020 than in 2019 (22.4% vs. 12.4%; p < 0.001). Gender-associated differences regarding absences were not detected, but patients aged 85 years or older were significantly more likely to miss their consultation compared to all other age groups (p = 0.002). Regarding different disease clusters, patients with chronic inflammatory skin diseases and infectious and malignant diseases were more likely to miss their consultation (p = 0.006). Noticeably, less patients with malignant diseases, and particularly malignant melanoma, were registered during this pandemic. Our data support the hypothesis that medically constructive prioritization might not be implemented properly by patients themselves. Identifying missed patients and catching up on their medical care apart from COVID-19 will pose an enormous challenge for health care systems globally. MDPI 2020-08-26 2020-09 /pmc/articles/PMC7504311/ /pubmed/32858870 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176182 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Wang, Rosi
Helf, Charlotte
Tizek, Linda
Neuhauser, Ruth
Eyerich, Kilian
Zink, Alexander
Eberlein, Bernadette
Biedermann, Tilo
Brockow, Knut
Boehner, Alexander
The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title_full The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title_fullStr The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title_full_unstemmed The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title_short The Impact and Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on a Single University Dermatology Outpatient Clinic in Germany
title_sort impact and consequences of sars-cov-2 pandemic on a single university dermatology outpatient clinic in germany
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7504311/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32858870
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176182
work_keys_str_mv AT wangrosi theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT helfcharlotte theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT tizeklinda theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT neuhauserruth theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT eyerichkilian theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT zinkalexander theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT eberleinbernadette theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT biedermanntilo theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT brockowknut theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT boehneralexander theimpactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT wangrosi impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT helfcharlotte impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT tizeklinda impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT neuhauserruth impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT eyerichkilian impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT zinkalexander impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT eberleinbernadette impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT biedermanntilo impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT brockowknut impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany
AT boehneralexander impactandconsequencesofsarscov2pandemiconasingleuniversitydermatologyoutpatientclinicingermany