CHANGES IN GERIATRIC OTOLARYNGOLOGIC EMERGENCIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Mustafa ÇOLAK1, Nurbanu KOÇDEMİR ERUL1, İrem Damla GÜVER ÇALAPKULU1, Ali Rıza YAĞMUR1, Nagihan GÜLHAN YAŞAR1, Şeyda AKBAL ÇUFALI1, Nurcan YURTSEVER KUM1, Agah YENİÇERİ1, Kürşat Murat ÖZCAN1, Hacı Hüseyin DERE1
1Ankara City Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology, Ankara, Turkey
DOI :
10.31086/tjgeri.2021.255
Introduction: Due to restrictions and fear of contamination, access to
health services has become difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially
for geriatric patients. The fact that hospitals allocate most of their capacity
to pandemic services has limited geriatrics" outpatient services. This situation
has caused elderly people to postpone their hospital appointments, including
otolaryngologic ones, and go to the emergency department in case of
necessity. This study aimed to compare the causes and frequency of admission
of geriatric otolaryngologic patients to the emergency department during the
first year of the Covid-19 pandemic to those one year before the pandemic.
Materials and Method: Geriatric patients who presented to the emergency
department for otolaryngologic reasons during the year before the pandemic
and the first year of the pandemic were screened retrospectively. 1,278 patients
were included in the study. The reasons and frequency of admission as well as
the hospitalization rate were compared.
Results: In both periods, the most common reason for admission was
epistaxis. While admissions due to facial paralysis and undiagnosed head
and neck masses increased during the pandemic (p = 0.004, p = 0.001),
hospitalization rates decreased (p = 0.016).
Conclusion: During the pandemic, no change was detected in the number of
geriatric patients and the most common reason for admission to the emergency
department. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, presentations for facial
paralysis increased. The number of presentations due to an undiagnosed head
and neck mass, which were very rare in the pre-pandemic period, increased
significantly during the pandemic.
Keywords :
Covid-19; Otolaryngology; Emergencies; Aged
