Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients' Perceptions of Safety and Need for Elective Foot and Ankle Surgery in the United States
Authors
Chan, Jimmy J.Chen, Kevin K.
Choi, Peter
Rojas, Edward O.
Schipper, Oliver N.
Aiyer, Amiethab
de Cesar Netto, Cesar
Haleem, Amgad M.
Kadakia, Anish R.
Vulcano, Ettore
UMass Chan Affiliations
School of MedicineDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2021-04-01Keywords
COVID-19ambulatory surgery
elective surgery
foot and ankle
Health Services Administration
Health Services Research
Infectious Disease
Orthopedics
Virus Diseases
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background: With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, elective foot and ankle surgeries were delayed throughout the United States to divert health care resources and limit exposure. Little is known about the impact of COVID-19 on patient's willingness to proceed with elective procedures once restrictions are lifted and factors contributing to such decision. Methods: Patients across 6 US orthopedic institutions who had their elective foot and ankle surgeries cancelled secondary to the pandemic were given a questionnaire. Specifically, patients were asked about their willingness to move forward with surgery once restrictions were lifted and if not why. Pain-level and pain medication use were also assessed. Univariate analysis was used to identify factors that contribute to patient's decisions. Results: A total of 150 patients participated in this study. Twenty-one (14%) opted not to proceed with surgery once restrictions were lifted. Forty-three percent (n = 9) listed concern for COVID infection as the reason; however, 14% of them would proceed if procedures were performed in surgery center. Twenty-nine (19% of the total cohort) patients had increased pain and 11% of patients were taking more pain meds because of the delay to their procedure. Patients who decided not to proceed with surgery reported pain reduction (3% vs 14%) and lower increase in pain medication used (5% vs 12%). Conclusion: COVID-19 has made a significant impact on the health care system. Delay of elective foot and ankle procedures impact patient quality of life and outcomes. Access to surgery centers may provide a partial solution during the pandemic. Level of Evidence: Level III.Source
Chan JJ, Chen KK, Choi P, Rojas EO, Schipper ON, Aiyer A, de Cesar Netto C, Haleem AM, Kadakia AR, Vulcano E. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients' Perceptions of Safety and Need for Elective Foot and Ankle Surgery in the United States. Foot Ankle Orthop. 2021 Jun 4;6(2):24730114211013788. doi: 10.1177/24730114211013788. PMID: 35097451; PMCID: PMC8702750. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1177/24730114211013788Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/27570PubMed ID
35097451Related Resources
Rights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Distribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/24730114211013788
Scopus Count
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).