AN OVERVIEW OF THE RHEUMATOLOGY OUTPATIENT CLINIC VISITS IN THE FIRST 16 MONTHS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: SINGLE-CENTRE EXPERIENCE

Authors : Hüseyin KAPLAN, Gizem CENGİZ, Senem ŞAŞ, Emre ŞENKÖY
Pages : 106-112
Doi:10.34108/eujhs.1174356
View : 41 | Download : 8
Publication Date : 2023-04-03
Article Type : Research Paper
Abstract :The aim of this study is to present a general picture of patients who applied to the rheumatology outpatient clinic in the first 16 months of the COVID-19pandemic. Patients who applied to the rheumatology outpatient clinic between March 2020 and August 2021 were included in the study. Patients’ clinical and demographic characteristics, the received drug treatments at their last admissions, and the outpatient clinic visits of patients within the specified 16-month period were evaluated retrospectively. A total of 869 patients were included, and their mean age was 48.51 ± 12.84 years; of these, 658 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(75.71%); were female and 211 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(24.29%); were male. The most common disease diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(29.57%);. The average number of hospital visits in 2021 was significantly higher than in 2020. Also, patients who received both biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(bDMARDs); and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(csDMARDs);/immunosuppressives had a significantly higher number of admissions than those who did not insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(for all, p<0.05);. The patients were divided into two groups based on their age as over and under 65 years of age, the number of outpatient clinic admissions was similar between the groups insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(p=0.620);.We determined that the year of admission, gender, and the drugs used had significant effects on the number of applications during this period. These and other effects of the pandemic on rheumatic diseases should be demonstrated in multicenter prospective studies.
Keywords : COVID 19, poliklinik, romatoloji

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL