Abstract 1635P
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Tunisia on March 2nd, 2020, and has therefore disrupted oncology practice ever since. We report the main difficulties encountered by oncologists across the country during the pandemic.
Methods
We conducted a national online survey on medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists to investigate their practice changes during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to January 2021.
Results
136 oncologists responded to the survey (surgical oncologists 35.8%, medical oncologists 37.8%, and radiation oncologists 26.4%); 80% were working in public hospitals. Among oncologists working in the public sector, 59% were asked to join covid-19 units. Five percent stated that their cancer care units were requisitioned for the management of COVID-19 patients and therefore, their patients were referred to other hospitals to pursue their treatment. Moreover, when comparing the number of new cancer cases diagnosed during and before covid-19, 63% of the surveyed oncologists reported a decrease in the number of new cases while 27% stated that the number was stable. During the lockdown, 45% of the participants noted that only 25 to 50% of their patients attended the follow-up visits and that 83% of them missed their CT imaging appointments. On the other hand, 62% of the surveyed oncologists stated that their patients experienced delayed curative surgeries, and 41% had chemotherapy delays. Decreased consultations at the emergency oncology departments were reported by 88% of the oncologists. Besides, 40% of oncologists reported that they adopted telemedicine to monitor patients during the lockdown, and, 48 % stated that they participated in videoconferences to learn about patients’ management during the pandemic. Finally, 46% of the surveyed oncologists reported losing patients due to the COVID-19 infection, which was a trigger for anxiety symptoms in 35% of the participants.
Conclusions
Oncologists reported deleterious effects of COVID-19 on oncology practice and patients’ management. Establishing standardized practice guidelines during the pandemic may help to decrease oncologists’ distress and reassure them about the appropriateness of their treatment policies.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.