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Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists
OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Turkish ophthalmologists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this survey study, an online questionnaire consisting of 40 questions was directed to actively working ophthalmologists. The questions asked about demographic...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Galenos Publishing
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8109042/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33951897 http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/tjo.galenos.2020.52563 |
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author | Kavadarlı, Işılay Mutlu, Melek |
author_facet | Kavadarlı, Işılay Mutlu, Melek |
author_sort | Kavadarlı, Işılay |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Turkish ophthalmologists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this survey study, an online questionnaire consisting of 40 questions was directed to actively working ophthalmologists. The questions asked about demographic characteristics, working conditions and schedule, follow-up of ophthalmology patients, and levels of knowledge and anxiety about the pandemic. RESULTS: This study included 161 ophthalmologists (78 women and 83 men). They were predominantly consultant ophthalmologists (71%), with 128 living in metropolitan areas. More than half (54.4%) reported decreased weekly working hours, 52.5% were attending routine outpatient clinics, 52.8% were working in COVID-19-related units, 67.1% were performing only emergency operations, and 52% reported disrupted follow-up of chronic eye patients. Sixty-four percent thought that ophthalmologists were in the high-risk group, and nearly all participants used masks while working (99%). Additionally, 91% expressed high anxiety regarding the pandemic, most commonly due to the risk of transmitting the disease to family (83%), and 12.5% considered their level of knowledge about the pandemic to be insufficient. Forty-six percent of the participants thought that daily life conditions would normalize in 2 to 5 months. CONCLUSION: Close proximity during patient examination causes ophthalmologists concern about their risk. The increasing number of COVID-19 cases resulted in a proportional decrease in the number of patients and surgeries in ophthalmology clinics in our country. As a result, ophthalmologists are unwillingly appointed to high-risk units. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial increase in anxiety levels among Turkish ophthalmologists. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8109042 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Galenos Publishing |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-81090422021-05-17 Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists Kavadarlı, Işılay Mutlu, Melek Turk J Ophthalmol Original Article OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Turkish ophthalmologists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this survey study, an online questionnaire consisting of 40 questions was directed to actively working ophthalmologists. The questions asked about demographic characteristics, working conditions and schedule, follow-up of ophthalmology patients, and levels of knowledge and anxiety about the pandemic. RESULTS: This study included 161 ophthalmologists (78 women and 83 men). They were predominantly consultant ophthalmologists (71%), with 128 living in metropolitan areas. More than half (54.4%) reported decreased weekly working hours, 52.5% were attending routine outpatient clinics, 52.8% were working in COVID-19-related units, 67.1% were performing only emergency operations, and 52% reported disrupted follow-up of chronic eye patients. Sixty-four percent thought that ophthalmologists were in the high-risk group, and nearly all participants used masks while working (99%). Additionally, 91% expressed high anxiety regarding the pandemic, most commonly due to the risk of transmitting the disease to family (83%), and 12.5% considered their level of knowledge about the pandemic to be insufficient. Forty-six percent of the participants thought that daily life conditions would normalize in 2 to 5 months. CONCLUSION: Close proximity during patient examination causes ophthalmologists concern about their risk. The increasing number of COVID-19 cases resulted in a proportional decrease in the number of patients and surgeries in ophthalmology clinics in our country. As a result, ophthalmologists are unwillingly appointed to high-risk units. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial increase in anxiety levels among Turkish ophthalmologists. Galenos Publishing 2021-04 2021-04-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8109042/ /pubmed/33951897 http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/tjo.galenos.2020.52563 Text en © Copyright 2021 by Turkish Ophthalmological Association | Turkish Journal of Ophthalmology, published by Galenos Publishing House. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Article Kavadarlı, Işılay Mutlu, Melek Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title | Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title_full | Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title_fullStr | Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title_short | Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Turkish Ophthalmologists |
title_sort | effects of the covid-19 pandemic on turkish ophthalmologists |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8109042/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33951897 http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/tjo.galenos.2020.52563 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kavadarlıisılay effectsofthecovid19pandemiconturkishophthalmologists AT mutlumelek effectsofthecovid19pandemiconturkishophthalmologists |