COVID-19 impact on an oncologic emergency department visits: observational study

Aurélie Ram, Arnaud Pagès, Edouard Cubilier, Nesrine Daoudi, Frederic Vandergheynst, Florian Scotte, Sami Antoun, Mansouriah Merad

    Résultats de recherche: Contribution à un journalArticleRevue par des pairs

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Résumé

    Objective This study aimed at evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on emergency department (ED) visits in a tertiary cancer centre and providing information on the features of the unplanned events during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This retrospective observational study based on data from ED reports was divided into three periods of 2months each around the first lockdown announcement of 17 March 2020: pre-lockdown, lockdown and post-lockdown. Results A total of 903 ED visits were included in the analyses. The mean (±SD) daily number of ED visits did not change during the lockdown period (14.6±5.5) when compared with the periods before (13.6±4.5) and after lockdown (13.7±4.4) (p=0.78). The proportion of ED visits for fever and respiratory disorders increased significantly to 29.5% and 28.5%, respectively (p<0.01) during lockdown. Pain, the third most frequent motive, remained stable with 18.2% (p=0.83) throughout the three periods. Symptom severity also showed no significant differences in the three periods (p=0.31). Conclusion Our study shows that ED visits during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic remained stable for our patients regardless of the symptom’s severity. The fear of an in-hospital viral contamination appears weaker than the need for pain management or for the treatment of cancer-related complications. This study highlights the positive impact of cancer ED in the first-line treatment and supportive care of patients with cancer.

    langue originaleAnglais
    Pages (de - à)E1354-E1360
    journalBMJ Supportive and Palliative Care
    Volume14
    Numéro de publicatione1
    Les DOIs
    étatPublié - 1 mai 2024

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