Barriers for Resuming Endoscopy Service in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Survey

Abstract

Introduction: An outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has altered the dynamic of world’s healthcare system, including endoscopic practices. Curious about the situation in different endoscopic units across the globe, the study was designed to evaluate different aspects of practice resumption worldwide.Methods: An online questionnaire was created and distributed by national/regional representatives. Redcap® platform was used as the interface; afterwards, Microsoft Excel 2016 and Prism 5 were utilized for data analysis.Results: A total of 307 responses from 47 countries/regions was collected, from which 290 valid answers were inducted and further analyzed. Almost half (47%) were in post-peak period by August, 2020. Many units were not designated to be COVID-oriented facility. About 15.5% of centers remained unrecovered, mainly in North and South America; those were recovered, training was still withheld significantly. Nevertheless, opened centers kept safety measurement strictly. Though patient load was decreased by 37% in most centers, waiting list was increased 0-25%. Among many surveillance methods, body temperature, PCR and chest CT prevailed the be the most commonly used. 74.8% claimed to have increased post-procedural disinfection time and 68.2% also observed an increased in per-case inspection. PPE usage was implemented highly and shortage of these posed as one of the resumption barriers. Post-procedural patient surveillance was not reinforced.Conclusions: The study reflected closely the global revolution of the pandemic. Shortage in staff and PPE as well as difficulty in training resumption remained barriers worldwide. Incapacity of patient post-procedural surveillance raised concerns in disease control.Funding Statement: None to declare.Declaration of Interests: None to declare.Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Egypt (NLI IRB 00003413) in June 2020, protocol number 00203/2020.