Elsamany Shereef, Hassanin Fayza, Al-Abdulwahab Amal, Tashkandi Emad
Oncology Center, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Oncology Centre, Mansoura University, Egypt.
Avicenna J Med. 2020 Oct 13;10(4):208-214. doi: 10.4103/ajm.ajm_166_20. eCollection 2020 Oct-Dec.
Management of cancer patients in the current era of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses significant challenges on health-care systems. However, it is mandatory to keep the required level of care of cancer patients while taking the necessary precautions to maintain the safety of both patients and health-care professionals (HCPs). The present survey explores suggested modifications of inpatient oncology/hematology care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A web-based questionnaire using SurveyMonkey was distributed to HCPs taking care of inpatient hematology/oncology service including oncologists, hematologists, and inpatient nurses in Saudi Arabia. The 25 items selected for the survey focused on five domains including characteristics of HCPs, COVID-19 infection risk among admitted patients, possible modifications related to physicians/nursing practice, and suggested infection control measures. Clinical sensibility assessment was conducted to evaluate the comprehensiveness, clarity, and face validity of our instrument on a scale of 1-5. The percentages of HCP responses to the suggested modifications in the survey were assessed in descriptive statistics to summarize data and report views of participants.
Of 215 HCPs, 195 responded and completed the survey. Of the respondents, 30.4% were medical oncologists, whereas hematologists and nurses constituted 6.7% and 62.9% of the participants, respectively. The majority of respondents (87.6%) work in governmental hospitals. The majority of participants (82%) have diagnosed patients with COVID-19 in their hospitals and modifications in inpatient practice during the COVID-19 pandemic were supported by 95% of respondents. The supported modifications by participants include enhanced use of oral medications (83.5%), phone calls to admitted stable patients by physicians, instead of physical interview (77%), decreasing frequency of vital signs assessment in stable patients (91%), decreasing the duration of stay in patients rooms (89%), using peripheral instead of central lines (76%), using video-based educational materials to patients through hospital TV network (91%), testing for COVID -19 before scheduled radiology imaging and procedures (74%), and performing routine nasopharyngeal swabs for HCPs (67%).
Several modifications in inpatient oncology/hematology practice were supported by the survey participants. These suggestions need to be discussed on local basis considering local infrastructure, available resources, and level of required care.
在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的当前时代，癌症患者的管理给医疗系统带来了重大挑战。然而，在采取必要预防措施以确保患者和医护人员安全的同时，维持癌症患者所需的护理水平是必须的。本次调查探讨了COVID-19大流行期间住院肿瘤学/血液学护理的建议性调整。
通过SurveyMonkey以网络问卷的形式向沙特阿拉伯负责住院血液学/肿瘤学服务的医护人员发放问卷，这些人员包括肿瘤学家、血液学家和住院护士。本次调查选取的25个项目聚焦于五个领域，包括医护人员的特征、住院患者中的COVID-19感染风险、与医生/护理实践相关的可能调整以及建议的感染控制措施。进行了临床敏感性评估，以1-5分的量表来评估我们工具的全面性、清晰度和表面效度。在描述性统计中评估了医护人员对调查中建议调整的回应百分比，以汇总数据并报告参与者的观点。
在215名医护人员中，195人回应并完成了调查。在受访者中，30.4%是医学肿瘤学家，而血液学家和护士分别占参与者的6.7%和62.9%。大多数受访者（87.6%）在政府医院工作。大多数参与者（82%）在其医院诊断出患有COVID-19的患者，95%的受访者支持在COVID-19大流行期间对住院实践进行调整。参与者支持的调整包括增加口服药物的使用（83.5%）、医生给病情稳定的住院患者打电话而非进行面对面问诊（77%）、减少对病情稳定患者的生命体征评估频率（91%）、缩短患者在病房的停留时间（89%）、使用外周静脉置管而非中心静脉置管（76%）、通过医院电视网络向患者提供基于视频的教育材料（91%）、在预定的放射影像学检查和操作前进行COVID-19检测（74%）以及对医护人员进行常规鼻咽拭子检测（67%）。
调查参与者支持对住院肿瘤学/血液学实践进行若干调整。需要根据当地的基础设施、可用资源和所需护理水平在当地进行讨论这些建议。
