Treatment for non-COVID patients takes hit amid focus on pandemic, Delhi hospital study suggests

The cohort study, conducted by a team at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi and published in the Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, observed nearly six hundred thousand cases, including a thorough observation on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various medical and surgical specialities for the entire duration since the onset of the pandemic, and compared it with the preceding pre-pandemic period (June 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020). The study, titled 'Severe impact of Covid-19 pandemic on non-Covid patient care and health delivery: An observational study from a large multi-speciality hospital of India,' also revealed that new and follow-up cases dropped by 57.65 per cent in the Covid-19 year. Outpatient cases attendance dropped by 89 per cent and surgical work dropped by 80 per cent.

"The study evaluated the data of 6,77,237 cases (599,281 outpatient and 77,956 hospital admissions) in the past two years (pandemic and pre-pandemic). It found that there was a significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on most spheres of clinical practice, including outpatient attendance and elective surgeries. Attendance of both new and follow-up cases dropped by 57.65 per cent," P Shivakumar, Managing Director of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital said. As per the Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group and Sr. Consultant, Paediatric Gastroenterology Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals Dr Anupam Sibal, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on both the hospital's major medical and surgical specialities.

"The only medical speciality that saw more patients has respiratory medicine with a significant increase of 314.04 per cent, in admissions because of COVID-19. The surgical work was reduced significantly across all the specialities, with bariatric surgery (87.5 per cent) and ophthalmology (65.45 per cent), being affected the most and general surgery (32.28 per cent), and neurosurgery the least," he said. Medical and surgical specialities dealing with critical and emergency care were less affected than others, with liver and kidney transplants and surgical oncology work taking place at around half of the earlier capacity.

"It was observed that all the medical and surgical specialities dealing more with critical and emergency care were less affected than the others. The most urgent surgical and interventional work was undertaken with due precautions, such as liver (56.46 per cent) and kidney (54.89 per cent) transplants, urgent neurosurgery (65.62 per cent), cardiac surgery (44.56 per cent), and surgical oncology (53.6 pre cent)," Sibal added.