ПАНДЕМИЯ COVID-19 В КАЗАХСТАНЕ И ЕЕ ВЛИЯНИЕ НА НЕЙРОХИРУРГИЧЕСКУЮ ПРАКТИКУ.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic spreads worldwide and affects many countries’ economy, policy and healthcare system. Specifically, quarantine measures related to the pandemic have significantly affected the medical organizations’ working regime. A paper aimed to assess the relationship between the COVID-19 in Kazakhstan and the decrease in the number of patients at the National Centre for Neurosurgery. Materials and methods. The official statistics of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan, data on the number of patients at the National Centre for Neurosurgery were analyzed. The article uses and analyzes statistical data from March 13 to June 30, 2020. The estimation of the relationship between the variables was performed using a multiple (multivariate) linear regression. We also reviewed the data on the situation in the leading neurosurgical clinics in the world. Results. During the 3.5 months (from March 13 to June 30) of 2020, the number of patients at the National Center for Neurosurgery decreased by 41.1% compared to the same period of 2019, and by 37.8% compared to 2018. The number of surgeries decreased by 50.1% during the three quarantine months (March, April, and May), only 593 surgeries instead of 1187 were performed. These reductions were due to roadblocks, state of emergency and increase in COVID-19 cases (p <0.05). Conclusion. The increases in the COVID-19 cases and related measures (roadblocks, state of emergency) have a negative impact on the number of patients in the neurosurgical clinic. The information given in this paper on the Neurosurgery Center’s working regime during the pandemic could be informative for other clinics in Kazakhstan to provide a continuous inpatient care to the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]