The short-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic on spine surgeons: a cross-sectional global study

European spine journal

article

Mohamed Fawzy Khattab¹  Tareq M. A. Kannan²  Ahmed Morsi¹  Qussay Al-Sabbagh²  Fadi Hadidi²  Mohammed Qussay Al-Sabbagh³  Muzahem M.Taha⁴  Anouar Bourghli⁵  Ibrahim Obeid⁶ 

[1] Orthopedic Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Shams University;Spine Unit, Jordan University Hospital, University of Jordan;School of Medicine, University of Jordan;Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Kirkuk University;Orthopedic and Spine Surgery Department, Kingdom Hospital;Spine Surgery Unit, Elsan Group Jean Villar Private Hospital

关键词: COVID-19;    Spine surgeons;    Mitigation;    Quarantine;    Economy;   

DOI  :  10.1007/s00586-020-06517-1

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The outbreak of COVID-19 erupted in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. In a few weeks, it progressed rapidly into a global pandemic which resulted in an overwhelming burden on health care systems, medical resources and staff. Spine surgeons as health care providers are no exception. In this study, we try to highlight the impact of the crisis on spine surgeons in terms of knowledge, attitude, practice and socioeconomic burden. This was global, multicentric cross-sectional study on 781 spine surgeons that utilized an Internet-based validated questionnaire to evaluate knowledge about COVID-19, availability of personal protective equipment, future perceptions, effect of this crisis on practice and psychological distress. Univariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictors for the degree of COVID-19 effect on practice. Overall, 20.2%, 52% and 27.8% of the participants were affected minimally, intermediately and hugely by COVID-19, respectively. Older ages (β = 0.33, 95% CI 0.11–0.56), orthopedic spine surgeons (β = 0.30, 95% CI 0.01–0.61) and those who work in the private sector (β = 0.05, 95% CI 0.19–0.61) were the most affected by COVID-19. Those who work in university hospitals (β = − 0.36, 95% CI 0.00 to − 0.71) were affected the least. The availability of N95 masks (47%) and disposable eye protectors or face shields (39.4%) was significantly associated with lower psychological stress (p = 0.01). Only 6.9%, 3.7% and 5% had mild, moderate and severe mental distress, respectively. While it is important to recognize the short-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of spine surgery, predicting where we will be standing in 6–12 months remains difficult and unknown. The COVID-19 crisis will probably have an unexpected long-term impact on lives and economies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown