Barriers for resuming endoscopy service in the context of COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter survey from Egypt.
World J Gastroenterol
; 26(43): 6880-6890, 2020 Nov 21.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-955270
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected routine endoscopy service across the gastroenterology community. This led to the suspension of service provision for elective cases.AIM:
To assess the potential barriers for resuming the endoscopy service in Egypt.METHODS:
A national online survey, four domains, was disseminated over a period of 4 wk in August 2020. The primary outcome of the survey was to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the endoscopy service and barriers to the full resumption of a disabled center(s).RESULTS:
A hundred and thirteen Egyptian endoscopy centers participated in the survey. The waiting list was increased by ≥ 50% in 44.9% of areas with clusters of COVID-19 cases (n = 49) and in 35.5% of areas with sporadic cases (n = 62). Thirty nine (34.8%) centers suffered from staff shortage, which was considered a barrier against service resumption by 86.4% of centers in per-protocol analysis. In multivariate analysis, the burden of cases in the unit locality, staff shortage/recovery and the availability of separate designated rooms for COVID-19 cases could markedly affect the resumption of endoscopy practice (P = 0.029, < 0.001 and 0.02, respectively) and Odd's ratio (0.15, 1.8 and 0.16, respectively).CONCLUSION:
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to restrictions in endoscopic volumes. The staff shortage/recovery and the availability of COVID-19 designed rooms are the most important barriers against recovery. Increasing working hours and dividing endoscopy staff into teams may help to overcome the current situation.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling
/
Waiting Lists
/
Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal
/
Facility Design and Construction
/
COVID-19
/
Health Workforce
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
World J Gastroenterol
Journal subject:
Gastroenterology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Wjg.v26.i43.6880
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