TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in Patterns of Referral for Inpatient Rehabilitation Cancer Patients Due to COVID-19
T2 - A Retrospective Study
AU - Gupta, Ekta
AU - Ng, Amy H.
AU - Rozman De Moraes, Aline
AU - Fu, Jack B.
AU - Tennison, Jegy M.
AU - Ahmed, Maaheen
AU - Fellman, Bryan M.
AU - Bruera, Eduardo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/1/1
Y1 - 2024/1/1
N2 - There is a paucity of literature on the effect of COVID-19 on hospital processes. We hypothesized that COVID-19 was associated with decreased cancer physiatry referrals in 2020. This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients from April to July 2019 and 2020 admitted at an academic quaternary cancer center. The main outcomes were number of hospital admissions, rate, and characteristics of inpatient rehabilitation admissions and change in percentage of physiatry referrals as the primary endpoint. Results showed that in 2019, there were 387 referrals from 10,274 inpatient admissions (3.8%; 95% confidence interval, 2.4-4.2), compared with 337 referrals from 7051 admissions in 2020 (4.8%; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-5.3, P = 0.001). Hematology services referred more patients than neurosurgery in 2020 (20.4% vs. 31.4%; 48.2% vs. 26.5%, P = 0.01). Discharge disposition reflected an increased frequency of return to acute care service in 2020 (10.2% vs. 21.8%, P = 0.03). In conclusion, there was an increase in the rate of physiatry referrals despite a decrease in hospital admissions. There was an increase in referrals by hematology, likely due to emphasis on safe discharge and the populations hospitalized.
AB - There is a paucity of literature on the effect of COVID-19 on hospital processes. We hypothesized that COVID-19 was associated with decreased cancer physiatry referrals in 2020. This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients from April to July 2019 and 2020 admitted at an academic quaternary cancer center. The main outcomes were number of hospital admissions, rate, and characteristics of inpatient rehabilitation admissions and change in percentage of physiatry referrals as the primary endpoint. Results showed that in 2019, there were 387 referrals from 10,274 inpatient admissions (3.8%; 95% confidence interval, 2.4-4.2), compared with 337 referrals from 7051 admissions in 2020 (4.8%; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-5.3, P = 0.001). Hematology services referred more patients than neurosurgery in 2020 (20.4% vs. 31.4%; 48.2% vs. 26.5%, P = 0.01). Discharge disposition reflected an increased frequency of return to acute care service in 2020 (10.2% vs. 21.8%, P = 0.03). In conclusion, there was an increase in the rate of physiatry referrals despite a decrease in hospital admissions. There was an increase in referrals by hematology, likely due to emphasis on safe discharge and the populations hospitalized.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Neoplasms
KW - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
KW - Referral and Consultation
KW - Rehabilitation Center
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U2 - 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002331
DO - 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002331
M3 - Article
C2 - 37602564
AN - SCOPUS:85179838191
SN - 0894-9115
VL - 103
SP - 62
EP - 65
JO - American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
JF - American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
IS - 1
ER -