Alshaali Anood, Abd ElAziz Soha, Aljaziri Amal, Farid Tamer, Sobhy Mona
Geriatric medicine section, Primary Health Care Sector, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai.
J Public Health Res. 2021 Nov 22;11(2):2593. doi: 10.4081/jphr.2021.2593.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the delivery of medical care across the world. The objective of the study is to understand and document the preventive steps implemented on geriatric services in the primary health care centers during COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a retrospective study carried on geriatric services utilization (Geriatric clinic- osteoporosis clinic - Memory and dementia clinic) in primary health care centers in Dubai Health Authority in 2020.
The study showed that the overall in person visits for all geriatric service in 2020 declined by almost 70%. The total number of telephone consultations in geriatric clinics, osteoporosis clinics and memory clinics were 1479, 1149 and 104 respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic had led to a reduction in most of the geriatric services including outpatient clinics, screening and referral. Telephone consultation provided a foundation for delivery of the service.
This study reflected the potential for telehealth services to bring benefits and convenience to the geriatric population, even after the end of the pandemic.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情的出现改变了全球医疗服务的提供方式。本研究的目的是了解并记录在新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情期间初级卫生保健中心针对老年服务采取的预防措施。
这是一项回顾性研究，于2020年对迪拜卫生局下属初级卫生保健中心的老年服务利用情况（老年诊所、骨质疏松症诊所、记忆与痴呆诊所）进行研究。
研究表明，2020年所有老年服务的门诊就诊总量下降了近70%。老年诊所、骨质疏松症诊所和记忆诊所的电话咨询总数分别为1479次、1149次和104次。新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情导致包括门诊、筛查和转诊在内的大多数老年服务减少。电话咨询为服务提供奠定了基础。
本研究反映了远程医疗服务即使在疫情结束后仍有潜力为老年人群带来益处和便利。
