1. Impact of COVID-19 on cancer service delivery: results from an international survey of oncology clinicians.
- Author
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Chazan G, Franchini F, Alexander M, Banerjee S, Mileshkin L, Blinman P, Zielinski R, Karikios D, Pavlakis N, Peters S, Lordick F, Ball D, Wright G, I Jzerman M, and Solomon B
- Subjects
- Adult, Asia epidemiology, Australia epidemiology, COVID-19 virology, Europe epidemiology, Female, Humans, Male, Medical Oncology methods, Medical Oncology statistics & numerical data, Neoplasms epidemiology, Oncologists statistics & numerical data, Pandemics, SARS-CoV-2 isolation & purification, Surveys and Questionnaires, COVID-19 epidemiology, Neoplasms therapy
- Abstract
Objectives: To report clinician-perceived changes to cancer service delivery in response to COVID-19., Design: Multidisciplinary Australasian cancer clinician survey in collaboration with the European Society of Medical Oncology., Setting: Between May and June 2020 clinicians from 70 countries were surveyed; majority from Europe (n=196; 39%) with 1846 COVID-19 cases per million people, Australia (AUS)/New Zealand (NZ) (n=188; 38%) with 267/236 per million and Asia (n=75; 15%) with 121 per million at time of survey distribution., Participants: Medical oncologists (n=372; 74%), radiation oncologists (n=91; 18%) and surgical oncologists (n=38; 8%)., Results: Eighty-nine per cent of clinicians reported altering clinical practices; more commonly among those with versus without patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (n=142; 93% vs n=225; 86%, p=0.03) but regardless of community transmission levels (p=0.26). More European clinicians (n=111; 66.1%) had treated patients diagnosed with COVID-19 compared with Asia (n=20; 27.8%) and AUS/NZ (n=8; 4.8%), p<0.001. Many clinicians (n=307; 71.4%) reported concerns that reduced access to standard treatments during the pandemic would negatively impact patient survival. The reported proportion of consultations using telehealth increased by 7.7-fold, with 25.1% (n=108) of clinicians concerned that patient survival would be worse due to this increase. Clinicians reviewed a median of 10 fewer outpatients/week (including non-face to face) compared with prior to the pandemic, translating to 5010 fewer specialist oncology visits per week among the surveyed group. Mental health was negatively impacted for 52.6% (n=190) of clinicians., Conclusion: Clinicians reported widespread changes to oncology services, in regions of both high and low COVID-19 case numbers. Clinician concerns of potential negative impacts on patient outcomes warrant objective assessment, with system and policy implications for healthcare delivery at large., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Some authors of this manuscript hold leadership positions on the ESMO board., (© Author (s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology.)
- Published
- 2020
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