Decreased febrile neutropenia during inpatient chemotherapy for urologic cancer during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

ABSTRACT

Since 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to the widespread practice of hand hygiene and wearing face masks, not only among medical personnel, but also among the general population. Thus, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the incidence of febrile neutropenia should be verified. This study aimed to examine the incidence of febrile neutropenia in hospitalized patients receiving chemotherapy at Kanazawa University Hospital. Among inpatients at the Department of Urology receiving chemotherapy, we compared the incidence of febrile neutropenia between 317 cases in 2018-2019 and 276 cases in 2020. We retrospectively analyzed the factors of febrile neutropenia via binomial logistic regression analysis based on patient characteristics and the characteristics of primary diseases, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 20/317 cases in 2018-2019 and 1/276 cases in 2020, with a significant decrease in the latter (p = 0.005). In a multivariate analysis, we identified the following independent risk factors for febrile neutropenia non-coronavirus disease 2019 era (p = 0.005), first course of therapy (p = 0.005), malnutrition (p = 0.032), and past history of febrile neutropenia (p = 0.018). Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, hygiene policies for medical personnel and quarantine measures for patients were thoroughly implemented. Therefore, the incidence of febrile neutropenia in 2020 decreased to 1/15 of the previous incidence. Thus, the hygiene for medical personnel and patients during the expected period of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia is important for febrile neutropenia prevention.