The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented need to re-organise and re-align priorities for all surgical specialties. Despite the current declining numbers globally, the direct effects of the pandemic on institutional practices and on personal stress and coping mechanisms remains unknown. The aims of this study were to assess the effect of the pandemic on daily scheduling and work balances, its effects on stress, and to determine compliance with guidelines and to assess whether quarantining has led to other areas of increased productivity.
A trans-Atlantic convenience sample of paediatric urologists was created in which panellists (Zoom) discussed the direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual units, as well as creating a questionnaire using a mini-Delphi method to provide current semi-quantitative data regarding practice, and adherence levels to recently published risk stratification guidelines. They also filled out a Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire to assess contemporary pandemic stress levels.
There was an 86% response rate from paediatric urologists. The majority of respondents reported near complete disruption to planned operations (70%), and trainee education (70%). They were also worried about the effects of altered home-lives on productivity (≤90%), as well as a lack of personal protective equipment (57%). The baseline stress rate was measured at a very high level (PSS) during the pandemic. Adherence to recent operative guidelines for urgent cases was 100%.
This study represents a panel discussion of a number of practical implications for paediatric urologists, and is one of the few papers to assess more pragmatic effects and combines opinions from both sides of the Atlantic. The impact of the pandemic has been very significant for paediatric urologists and includes a decrease in the number of patients seen and operated on, decreased salary, increased self-reported stress levels, substantially increased telemedicine usage, increased free time for various activities, and good compliance with guidelines and hospital management decisions.
Journal of pediatric urology. 2020 Jul 04 [Epub ahead of print]
Fardod O'Kelly, Scott Sparks, Casey Seideman, Patricio Gargollo, Candace Granberg, Joan Ko, Neha Malhotra, Sarah Hecht, Kelly Swords, Courtney Rowe, Ben Whittam, Anne-Francoise Spinoit, Anne Dudley, Jonathan Ellison, David Chu, Jonathan Routh, Glenn Cannon, Paul Kokorowski, Martin Koyle, Mesrur Selcuk Silay, APAUC (Academic Paediatric and Adolescent Urology Collaborative) and the YAU (Young Academic Urologists) Group
Division of Paediatric Urology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: ., Division of Pediatric Urology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, CA, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Portland, OR, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Mayo Clinic, MN, USA., Department of Urology, University of Utah, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Children's Hospital Colorado, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Connecticut Children's Hospital, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Riley Children's, Indianapolis, IN, USA., Department of Urology, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium., Division of Pediatric Urology, Children's Wisconsin, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, Lurie Children's Chicago, IL, USA., Division of Urologic Surgery, Duke University Medical Centre, NC, USA., Division of Pediatric Urology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, PA, USA., Division of Paediatric Urology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada., Division of Pediatric Urology, Biruni University, Istanbul, Turkey.