ABSTRACT
Objective: COVID-19 has an increased burden on the delivery of services because the measures taken by the governments forced hospitals to cancel most of their elective procedures and led to the shutting down of outpatient clinics. This study aimed to evaluate the impact COVID-19 pandemic on the volume of radiology exams based on patient service locations and imaging modality in the North of Jordan. Methods: The imaging case volumes that were performed at the King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH), Jordan, from 1 January 2020 to 8 May 2020, were retrospectively collected and compared to those from 1 January 2019 to 28 May 2019, to determine the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19 on the volume of radiological examinations. The 2020 study period was chosen to cover the peak of COVID-19 cases and to record the effects on imaging case volumes. Results: A total of 46,194 imaging case volumes were performed at our tertiary center in 2020 compared to 65,441 imaging cases in 2019. Overall, the imaging case volume in 2020 decreased by 29.4% relative to the same period in 2019. The imaging case volumes decreased for all imaging modalities relative to 2019. The number of nuclear images showed the highest decline (41.0%) in 2020, followed by the number of ultrasounds (33.2%). Interventional radiology was the least affected imaging modality by this decline, with about a 22.9% decline. Conclusion: The number of imaging case volumes decreased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown. The outpatient service location was the most affected by this decline. Effective strategies must be adopted to avoid the aforementioned effect on the healthcare system in future pandemics.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on imaging utilization across practice settings. The purpose of this study was to quantify the change in the composition of inpatient imaging volumes for modality types and Current Procedural Terminology-coded groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective study of inpatient imaging volumes in a large health care system was performed, analyzing weekly imaging volumes by modality types (radiography, CT, MRI, ultrasound, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine) in years 2020 and 2019. The data set was split to compare pre-COVID-19 (weeks 1-9) and post-COVID-19 (weeks 10-16) periods. Further subanalyses compared early post-COVID-19 (weeks 10-13) and late post-COVID-19 (weeks 14-16) periods. Statistical comparisons were performed using χ2 and independent-samples t tests. RESULTS: Compared with 2019, total inpatient imaging volume in 2020 post-COVID-19, early and late post-COVID-19 periods, declined by 13.6% (from 78,902 to 68,168), 16.6% (from 45,221 to 37,732), and 9.6% (from 33,681 to 30,436), respectively. By week 16, inpatient imaging volume rebounded and was only down 4.2% (from 11,003 to 10,546). However, a statistically significant shift (P < .0001) in the 2020 composition mix was observed largely comprised of radiography (74.3%), followed by CT (12.7%), ultrasound (8%), MRI (2.4%), interventional radiology (2.3%), and nuclear medicine (0.4%). Although the vast majority of imaging studies declined, few Current Procedural Terminology-coded groups showed increased trends in imaging volumes in the late post-COVID-19 period, including CT angiography chest, radiography chest, and ultrasound venous duplex. DISCUSSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed a decrease in inpatient imaging volumes accompanied by a shift away from cross-sectional imaging toward radiography. These findings could have significant implications in planning for a potential resurgence.