Impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on the department of stomatology in a tertiary hospital: a case study in the General Hospital of the Central Theater Command, Wuhan, China (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The aim of this study is to depict the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical services and academic activities in the department of stomatology of a tertiary hospitals in Wuhan, China. Methods: We obtained historical data of the Department of Stomatology from the Health Information System of the General Hospital of Central Theater Command, Wuhan, China between January 2018 and June 2020. Line plots were used to illustrate temporal trend of the variables. Mean {+/-} standard deviation and median with interquartile range were used to summarize the variables. The Kruskal-Wallis equality-of-populations rank test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results: A significant decrease was noted in the monthly average number of patients seeking the outpatient services for the year 2020. The monthly numbers of patients seeking outpatient services were decreased by two thirds from 2018 to 2020. The number of emergency cases also decreased significantly by 64% in 2020. The monthly number of teaching hours decreased from 3.8 {+/-} 1.5 in 2018 and 4.7 {+/-} 1.4 in 2019 to 1.7 {+/-} 1.9 in 2020. The number of interns also decreased more than 70% in 2020. Conclusions: The impacts of COVID 19 in the stomatology clinic were significant with notable decreases in clinical services and education offered to the stomatology students. We must find solutions to keep as many as needed dental profession stay on thriving and to remain on the frontline of healthcare.