Grand Journal of Urology
E-ISSN : 2757-7163

How Did The COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Urology Outpatient Clinic Applications?
Ahmet Emre Cinislioglu1, Nazan Cinislioglu2, Saban Oguz Demirdogen1, Fatih Kursat Yilmazel1, Sibel Guclu Utlu3, Ibrahim Karabulut1, Senol Adanur4, Ozkan Polat4
1Department of Urology, University of Health Sciences, Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey
2Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, University of Health Sciences, Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey
3Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Health Sciences, Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey
4Department of Urology, Ataturk University Faculty of Medicine, Erzurum, Turkey
DOI : 10.5505/GJU.2022.02886
Pages : 26-32
Objective: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is particularly more common and deadly among older men who also constitute a significant portion of urology patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the change in the diagnostic spectrum in urology outpatient applications after the declaration of pandemic compared to the pre- pandemic period.

Materials and Methods: All patients were enrolled between February 12 and May 6, 2020. Demographic, and clinical data of the patients were analyzed pertaining to the period of 4 weeks before, and the first, and second 4 weeks after declaration of the pandemic. Data obtained from the database such as age, gender, diagnoses were anonymized. Recurrent applications with the same diagnosis within ten days after the first presentation were excluded from the analysis.

Results: Compared to the pre-pandemic period a significant decrease in the number of patients applied to the urology outpatient clinics after declaration of the pandemic, and in the frequency of diagnoses of prostate diseases, and urine transport, storage and emptying disorders and a significant increase in the frequency of diagnoses of urinary system stone disease, benign or malignant bladder diseases, upper urinary system tumors, and sexual dysfunction were observed after declaration of the pandemic.

Conclusion: The risk perception of COVID-19 disease may cause changes in the diagnostic distribution of patients applied to the urology outpatient clinics. During periods of outbreak, the health system must be redesigned by focusing on outpatients.

Keywords : COVID-19, outpatient, urological diseases, diagnostic distribution, epidemiology
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How Did The COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Urology Outpatient Clinic Applications? by Ahmet Emre Cinislioglu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.