Clinical Profile and Practices of Safety Measures of Patients Who Have Attended Outpatient Unit of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in South India during National Lockdown Period

Abstract

BACKGROUND Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, was converted to a Covid hospital but there was no shutdown or restriction of functioning of routine nonCovid treatment services. Objectives were to study the clinical profile of patients visiting ENT outpatient department during national lockdown period, evaluate the usage of safety practices by patients to protect from Covid-19 infection and determine the proportion of patients using teleconsultation services. METHODS This is a descriptive study. All patients, who attended and / or given dates to visit the ENT outpatient department during study period were included in the study. Data collected was analysed using SPSS software version 25. RESULTS Among patients who visited the outpatient department, 54.3 % were males. Majority belonged to age group of above 40 years. 82 % of old patients on followup could not attend outpatient because of lack of transportation. Majority of new cases were road traffic accidents and acute infections of ear and nose. Although majority had access to treatment from hospitals in their locality, they did not utilise the option. 98 % were aware of COVID-19 infection and were practicing safety precautions. Only 13 patients out of 219 were using the facility of teleconsultation. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals a wide gap in the present method of implementation of referrals to tertiary care. E medicine and teleconsultation services should be encouraged and used effectively. High rate of adoption of the safety measures among the public was another highlight obtained from this study. KEYWORDS Clinical Profile, COVID-19, Government Medical College, National Lockdown, Safety Practices