Deferral of elective surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Palestinian patients: a cross-sectional study

Atary, Mousa; Abu-Rmeileh, Niveen M. E.

doi:10.1186/s13031-023-00509-w

Conflict and Health

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

From: Deferral of elective surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Palestinian patients: a cross-sectional study

Variable	Items	Frequency (N = 398)	Percentage
Age groups	15–30y	83	20.9
	31–45y	113	28.4
	46–60y	144	36.2
	> 60y	58	14.6
Gender	Female	202	50.8
Gender	Male	196	49.2
Hospital*	Centre Hospital	138	34.7
	North Hospital	141	35.4
	South Hospital	119	29.9
Residence in West Bank**	North	151	37.9
	Centre	114	28.6
	South	133	33.4
Type of surgery deferred	Ear, Nose, and Throat	48	12.1
	Gynecology	38	9.5
	Maxillofacial surgery	4	1.0
	Neuro	64	16.1
	Ophthalmology	10	2.5
	Orthopaedic	136	34.2
	Scopes	29	7.3
	General Surgery	42	10.6
	Urology	22	5.5
	Vascular surgery	5	1.3
No. of comorbidities	No comorbidities	253	63.6
	One comorbidity	72	18.1
	Two comorbidities	36	9.0
	Three comorbidities	26	6.5
	Four comorbidities	10	2.5
	Five comorbidities	1	0.3
Covid-19 infection	Yes, at the time of deferral of surgical intervention	34	8.5
	Yes, other than the time of deferral of surgical intervention	139	34.9
	No	225	56.5
No. of health services that could not be accessed by the deferred operation patients***	Accessed all other health services	278	69.8
	One health services	83	20.9
	Two health services	26	6.5
	Three health services	10	2.5
	Four health services	1	0.3
Duration of absence from work during the covid-19 pandemic	No	169	42.5
	1-month	58	14.6
	2-months	58	14.6
	Three months or more	113	28.4
Causes of absence from work	Administrative orders	61	26.6
	Covid-19 infection or quarantine	108	47.2
	Disease (includes the diseases for which surgery was scheduled)	60	26.2
Cost of transportation due to surgery deferral	Less than 100 NIS	126	31.7
	100–200 NIS	138	34.6
	200–300 NIS	78	19.6
	More than 300 NIS	56	14.1
Cost of medications due to surgery deferral	Less than 100 NIS	268	67.3
	100–200 NIS	69	17.3
	200–300 NIS	19	4.8
	More than 300 NIS	42	10.6
Anxiety scale (HAAD)	Normal	106	26.6
	Borderline	113	28.4
	Abnormal	179	45.0
Depression scale (HAAD)	Normal	126	31.7
	Borderline	154	38.7
	Abnormal	118	29.6
Physical affection of patient due to surgical deferral	No Effect	177	44.5
	Minimal Effect	113	28.4
	Moderate Effect	87	21.9
	Severe Effect	21	5.3

Characteristics of the study population, Palestine, 2020–2021
*Centre hospital is Palestine Medical Complex, the North hospital is Rafedia hospital, and the south hospital is Alia hospital
**Nothern governorates include (Jenin, Qalqelia, Tubas, Salfet, Nablus, and Tulkarem), Centre governorates include (Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Jericho), and south governorates include (Hebron and Bethlehem)
***Health services include urgent and non-urgent surgeries, chronic and acute disease care, drug purchases, laboratory and radiological tests, and medical report or referral coverage

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ISSN: 1752-1505

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