Quality of Life of Urolithiasis Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Institutional Cross-Sectional Study

Evaluation of fear, willingness to seek care, and healthcare delivery preferences for patients with nephrolithiasis during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…To date, studies have shown there to be increased fear in females, older patients, and those with more severe baseline levels of anxiety ( 13 , 24 , 25 ). Findings from our study were similar to these previous reports regarding gender, with higher COVID-19 fear in female nephrolithiasis patients ( 13 , 16 , 24 ). This highlights a potential gender disparity in patient-experienced fear, across multiple health conditions.…”

“…When comparing our study to Wong et al ’s, we must consider that their FVC-19S scores were converted to a 100-point scale, unlike the raw scores reported in our study ( 16 ). When converted back to baseline, their average scores are only slightly higher at ~16.5 vs. 14.8 in our study.…”

“…Although other specialties have evaluated patient COVID-19 fear, there are limited reports in surgical fields including urology ( 10 - 16 ). To date, studies have shown there to be increased fear in females, older patients, and those with more severe baseline levels of anxiety ( 13 , 24 , 25 ).…”

“…To date, there are only two published reports on nephrolithiasis patient perceptions during the pandemic. The first, by Wong et al , evaluated stone-related quality of life (QOL) and found an inverse relationship between fear and QOL ( 16 ). Another study investigated patient preferences for nephrolithiasis care during the pandemic and revealed that patients were more negative and anxious with a shift away from in-person evaluations ( 17 ).…”