Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on new patient visits for orthodontic treatment: A comparison of 2020 and the previous 3 years.
J World Fed Orthod
; 10(3): 127-131, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1380625
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to unprecedented challenges in the arts, sports, education, finance, and healthcare. The aim of this study was to compare demographic characteristics of new-patient visits for orthodontic treatment in the pandemic year (2020) versus previous years.METHODS:
The retrospective study included patients who sought care at a tertiary orthodontic referral center between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020. Clinical and demographic characteristics, including age, age group (child, young adult, adult), gender, and numbers of monthly and annual new-patient visits were compared between the pre-pandemic (2017-2020) and post-pandemic (2020) periods. The daily average numbers of appointments were compared for 2019 versus 2020.RESULTS:
The average number of monthly new-patient visits was 240.69 ± 81.48 in the pre-pandemic period, as opposed to 113.75 ± 88.89 in the year 2020 (P < 0.001). The average number of monthly new-patient visits decreased by 48.3% in 2020 compared to 2019, while the average number of daily new-patient visits in 2020 decreased significantly in all months (P < 0.05), except for January (P = 0.613) compared to the monthly numbers from the previous year. No significant difference was found between the pre-pandemic period and 2020 with regard to gender (P = 0.410). In all years, the numbers of new-patient visits were higher for women, compared with men, and for children, compared with adults.CONCLUSIONS:
The results indicated a sharp decrease in the number of new-patient visits for orthodontic treatment in the pandemic year (2020) compared to previous years.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Orthodontics
/
Appointments and Schedules
/
COVID-19
/
Health Services Accessibility
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
J World Fed Orthod
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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