Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on eye care for patients in a referral training hospital
ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the number of medical appointments, exams and procedures performed in a public ophthalmic teaching hospital in Brazil. Methods: The total number of consultations, outpatient procedures and surgeries performed between March 2018 a...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sociedade Brasileira de Oftalmologia
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Revista Brasileira de Oftalmologia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-72802024000100235&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| Summary: | ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the number of medical appointments, exams and procedures performed in a public ophthalmic teaching hospital in Brazil. Methods: The total number of consultations, outpatient procedures and surgeries performed between March 2018 and March 2021 were reviewed and compared. Number of surgeries per resident was also reviewed. Results: There was a drop of 31.6% of care provided in the 2020 period compared to the average of the last two pre-pandemic years, with a total of 38.235 ophthalmologic evaluations. All surgical modalities decreased from March to July 2020. There was a drop of 35.27% (4,322 surgeries) in 2020 compared to the average of the years 2018 and 2019. There was a 16.3% decrease in exams performed. Laser capsulotomies and iridotomies followed with a decrease of 35.89% e 23.57% in 2020, respectively. However, there was an increase of 12.7% compared to the average of the last two years before the pandemic in intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF and from photocoagulation therapy. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic reduced surgical procedures and ophthalmologic consultations in training hospitals when compared to prior years, with the exceptions of intravitreal injections of anti-angiogenic (anti-VEGF) and photocoagulation therapy, which increased. |
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| ISSN: | 1982-8551 |