Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on eye care for patients in a referral training hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the number of medical appointments, exams and procedures performed in a public ophthalmic teaching hospital in Brazil. Methods: The total number of consultations, outpatient procedures and surgeries performed between March 2018 and March 2021 were reviewed and compared. Number of surgeries per resident was also reviewed. Results: There was a drop of 31.6% of care provided in the 2020 period compared to the average of the last two pre-pandemic years, with a total of 38.235 ophthalmologic evaluations. All surgical modalities decreased from March to July 2020. There was a drop of 35.27% (4,322 surgeries) in 2020 compared to the average of the years 2018 and 2019. There was a 16.3% decrease in exams performed. Laser capsulotomies and iridotomies followed with a decrease of 35.89% e 23.57% in 2020, respectively. However, there was an increase of 12.7% compared to the average of the last two years before the pandemic in intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF and from photocoagulation therapy. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic reduced surgical procedures and ophthalmologic consultations in training hospitals when compared to prior years, with the exceptions of intravitreal injections of anti-angiogenic (anti-VEGF) and photocoagulation therapy, which increased.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Coronavirus infections
• Pandemic
• Ophthalmology
• Internship and residency
• Surgical training