Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of many health care systems shifted in order to prioritize and allocate resources toward treating those affected by COVID-19. What this has meant for other patient populations remains unclear. We aimed to determine if there have been changes to acute care access for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed in IBD patients seen during (March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020) and before (March 1, 2019 to August 31, 2019) the COVID-19 pandemic. IBD-related emergency room (ER) access, hospitalization, inpatient care and follow-up and post-discharge ER access were assessed. Results A total of 1229 participants were included. A higher proportion of patients accessed ER during the pandemic (44.6% versus 37.2%, P = 0.0097). A higher proportion of hospitalizations resulted from IBD-related ER visits during the pandemic period (41.6% versus 32.4%, OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.14 to 1.94, P = 0.0047), though length of stay was shorter (7.13 ± 8.95 days versus 10.11 ± 17.19 days, P = 0.015) and use of rescue infliximab was less. No change was seen in inpatient surgical intervention. Despite similar proportions of follow-up appointments post-hospital discharge (pre-pandemic, 77.9% versus pandemic, 78.3%), more ER visits occurred in the first 30 days following hospitalization for patients in the pandemic cohort (24.4% versus 11.1%, P = 0.0015). Conclusion These data highlight the need for ER services and hospitalization amongst IBD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that a return to pre-pandemic IBD care infrastructure is needed to mitigate the need for acute care access.
Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, also known as COVID-19, initially began in a small cluster of patients in Wuhan, China and was declared a worldwide pandemic in March of 2020. Since the onset of the pandemic, the focus of many healthcare systems has shifted toward limiting non-essential visits to the hospital in order to prioritize and allocate resources toward treating those affected by COVID-19. While the effect of COVID-19 has been felt amongst many patient populations, those with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) have been particularly impacted. We aimed to determine how changes to the provision of IBD care due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected IBD patients. Methods A retrospective cohort study was carried out in patients with an IBD diagnosis comparing patients admitted to two tertiary care centres affiliated with Western University in London, Canada between March 17 and August 31 2019 (2019 cohort or pre-pandemic), to patients admitted between March 17 and August 31 2020 (2020 cohort or pandemic). Patients were reviewed to assess any differences in care utilization and IBD-related outcomes such as hospitalization, need for surgery, length of stay in hospital and in-patient drug therapy during the defined time periods. Results A total of 863 patients were reviewed in 2019, and 554 in 2020. Of those, 184 (CD, n= 125; UC, n= 59) and 172 (CD, n= 109; UC, n= 62) encounters met the inclusion criteria for 2019 and 2020 respectively. Patient demographics were similar between 2019 and 2020 cohort with the exception of age (2019, mean age = 44.76 years ± 16.78; 2020, mean age=50.36 years ± 17.82, p=0.002). The length of stay in hospital was shorter in 2020 (6.88 days vs 9.63, p=0.045). Significantly fewer patients were initiated on Infliximab in hospital in 2020 (2020, 3.50 per month; 2019, 6.83 per month, p=0.001). Fewer in-patient surgeries were performed in 2020 (2019, 76; 2020, 57; p=0.112). Conclusion Preliminary data demonstrate during the COVID-19 pandemic there was a significant reduction in the length of stay for patients with IBD as well as fewer patients initiated on infliximab while in hospital. There was also a decrease in the number of surgeries performed in 2020. These differences may reflect an effort to minimize contact between patients and health care facilities as well as reduce the introduction of further immunosuppression. Further research will be to determine whether if more ER visits became hospitalizations and any delays in appointment times or endoscopies, or compliance issues with medications may have led to these aforementioned outcomes.
Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, also known as COVID-19, was declared a worldwide pandemic in March of 2020. Since the onset of the pandemic, the focus of many healthcare systems has shifted toward limiting non-essential visits to hospitals in order to prioritize and allocate resources toward treating those affected by COVID-19, and preventing further exposures. While the effect of COVID-19 has been felt amongst many patient populations, those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been particularly impacted through delayed appointments and endoscopy, which is critical in disease monitoring. Aims We aimed to determine how changes to the provision of IBD care due to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected IBD patients. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using administrative data comparing IBD patients admitted to the gastroenterology ward from March 17 to August 31 2019, with IBD patients admitted from March 17 to August 31 2020 at a tertiary care centre in London, Ontario. Patients were reviewed to assess differences in care utilization and IBD-related outcomes such as hospitalization, surgery and length of stay and in-patient drug therapy. Results A total of 538 patients (259 in 2019 cohort and 279 in 2020 cohort) were reviewed with 48 and 60 IBD patients meeting the inclusion criteria for 2019 and 2020 respectively. Patient demographics were similar between 2019 and 2020 cohort for age, sex, rurality, disease type, and biologic exposure. A greater proportion of patients were admitted with IBD flares in 2020 (86.7% vs 75%, p=0.03). Furthermore, the 2020 cohort also had a 45% increase in in-patient surgical consultations (p=0.07), a 50% increase in in-patient IBD-related surgeries (p=0.39), a 69% increase in inpatient Remicade prescription (p=0.13) and a 70% increase in infectious complications at presentation to hospital (p=0.21). A shorter median length of stay was reported for patients in the 2020 cohort (4 days IQR 3.95 vs 5.85 IQR 4.65, p=0.09). Conclusions Preliminary data suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen more deleterious outcomes in our IBD patients such as increased flares necessitating hospital admission. There was also a non-significant trend toward increased infectious complications as well as in-patient surgeries and need for in-patient Remicade. Though these results cannot be fully interpreted due to the need for further sampling, they suggest that IBD patients may be at-risk for poor outcomes in the current climate of medical care. Completion of this study will help define the full impact of care shifts related to reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus on IBD patients and highlight areas of care that need careful assessment and consideration to protect IBD patient health. Funding Agencies None
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