Impact of COVID-19 on Urology Practice in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

From the moment the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic disease, COVID-19 began to affect the lives of many healthcare providers worldwide. In response to this pandemic, urology departments and training residency programs implemented urgent measures to reduce outpatient clinics, adopted the use of telemedicine, regulated emergency and outpatient urological procedures, promoted the use of operating theatres, and developed the use of sustainable e-learning alternatives to traditional urology educational activities. We reviewed the response of urologists in Saudi Arabia to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they react to the emerging pandemic both for patients and for healthcare of urologist personnel.

Effects of first year COVID-19 pandemic on urology practice in three major Arab Countries: Sub-Analysis of a survey by Arab association of urology research group

“…This finding is consistent with the recommendations of international organizations and the measures adopted to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic [ 19 – 21 ]. Most Saudi governmental hospitals applied these measures [ 22 ].…”

Effect of COVID-19-Induced Stress among Males on the Partner Relationship and Sexual Activity during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our respondents reported modest levels of stress related to sexuality and partner relationships, indicating that their sexual connections were not jeopardized during the lockdown. This could be owing to the Saudi government’s early implementation of specific preventative measures and heightened public knowledge about the pandemic, which appeared to have a protective effect on people’s overall health [ 31 ].…”

The effect of disruption due to COVID-19 on operating room utilization: Experience from a secondary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…Our hospital is one of the most important health care facilities in Riyadh, serving as referral center for about one million populations. The impact of COVID-19 has been previously reported in Saudi Arabia, while some of these studies[ 13 14 15 ] have reported a generalized overview of the adaptive functioning in the context of COVID-19 in respective specialties, one study has reported impact on services. [ 16 ]…”

“…In Saudi Arabia, studies have been conducted on the impact of COVID-19 across the specialties;[ 10 12 13 14 15 ] however, not much has been studied on the surgical volume affected overall in a secondary care hospital, which prompted us to undertake this study. The present study had been taken up in King Salman Hospital in First central health cluster, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with following objectives: To assess the effect of COVID-19 on OR utilization during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 phase.…”