The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic led to a worldwide medical crisis, affecting mostly immunocompromised patients, such as cancer patients. Various cancer societies have issued recommendations regarding patients care, but few studies addressed the perception of cancer patients regarding this pandemic.
The aim of the study was to assess the perception of cancer patients regarding their health risks during this pandemic and the preventive measures taken.
An anonymous survey was conducted among cancer patients presenting for their treatment, during 10 consecutive working days, at the one-day clinic of Hotel-Dieu de France University hospital in Beirut. We evaluated their state of disease, comorbidities, precautions taken, and their concerns regarding the virus spread.
A total of 216 patients responded with a mean age of 60 years. The majority had a good performance status (performance status = 0-1 in 79.6%), 51.4% had metastatic disease, and chemotherapy was the main therapy used (65.7%). A total of 52.3% of patients considered themselves to be at increased risk of contracting the virus. A total of 55.1% were more worried about the coronavirus rather than their disease. The priority was for the treatment of their cancer in 47.7% of the total patients studied. Of note, only 2.8% of planned one-day clinic reservations were canceled or postponed to avoid COVID-19 exposure.
Although cancer is a disease with a high mortality rate, many patients are more concerned about the actual pandemic rather than their disease. Nevertheless, the absenteeism from their treatment sessions during the COVID-19 atmosphere was minimal.
Journal of patient safety. 2021 Jan 01 [Epub]
Fady Gh Haddad, Hampig Raphael Kourie, Nicole Gebara, Christian Matta, Roland Eid, Fady El Karak, Fadi Nasr, Georges Chahine, Marwan Ghosn, Joseph Kattan
From the Departments of Hematology-Oncology., Family Medicine, Hotel-Dieu de France University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.