Abstract
Objectives:The COVID-19 pandemic undermined the health service delivery and utilization of essential health care services globally. The current study therefore aimed to explore the health-seeking behaviors and challenges faced by patients for the management of gastrointestinal diseases.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient department of Gastroenterology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi from March 2020 to July 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown phase to explore patient experiences. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire. All patients of either gender were included after informed consent. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS 21.0.Results:A total of 184 patients were included who visited the hospital to seek medical services during the COVID-19 lockdown phase. The mean age of the population was 42.7 years (±16.13). Of these, n=94 (51.1%) were males All patients had gastrointestinal issues with different comorbid conditions. One forty-seven n=147 (79.9%) presented with active complaints whereas, n=37 (20.1%) patients visited the hospital for their follow-up checkup. Out of 184 patients, n=33 (17.9%) patients reported of having fear of visiting hospital due to COVID-19 outbreak. A statistically significant difference p<0.001 was noted between the history of comorbidities and patient delaying a visit to the healthcare due to the fear of COVID-19. Additionally, 61 (73.5%) patients with co-morbidity faced difficulty in finding public transport (p=0.01). Nevertheless, n=171 (93.0%) patients expressed satisfaction with the services provided by the hospital during the lockdown phase.Conclusion:Patients with gastrointestinal conditions were largely affected by lockdown largely due to fear of contacting COVID-19 disease and inaccessibility to the public transportation. Widely available telemedicine service might overcome these shortcomings and ensure continuity of quality care.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption in health, social, and economic spheres across the globe with drastic public health policy measures adding to the adversity.[1]
A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Outpatient Department of Gastroenterology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi from March 2020 to July 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown phase after approval of hospital ethics committee
This included questions related to the reason for the hospital visit, active complaint and its duration, co-morbid conditions healthseeking details, availability of local physician, information related to delay in services, waiting in the emergency room (ER), type of emergency treatment received, denial for prescription, use of personal protective equipment/mask by the patients and the attendants, types of personal protective equipment used by the patients and the attendants, fear of visiting the facility due to COVID-19, modes of transportation and issues faced in reaching the hospital, and the patients’ satisfaction with the hospital services
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption in health, social, and economic spheres across the globe with drastic public health policy measures adding to the adversity.[1]. The current pandemic response dismantled healthcare systems but its impacts on population health are far-reaching ranging from hindrances in essential health services like routine immunization, treatment and management of other acute and chronic conditions, maternal and child health services, mental health services, and collapsing of healthcare systems.[5,6,7,8,9] On the other hand, the negative impact on the socioeconomic domain of the societies resulted in unemployment, reduced individual productivity, business shutdowns, tourism suspension, disruption in routine education systems and supply chains, political issues, disruption of public transport systems, and shortages of human resources for health.[10,11,12] While the health impacts of the pandemic are inevitable, a very high proportion of the population, those who had existing chronic diseases faced immense hardships in seeking medical services amidst restrictive policies for pandemic management.[1,13] Modelling scientists indicated amplification of limitations and tradeoffs in routine healthcare services during the peak of the pandemic as the efforts of policy-makers and healthcare departments were in favour of outbreak management and containment.[14,15]
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