COVID‐19‐Related Downscaling of In‐Hospital Liver Care Decreased Patient Satisfaction and Increased Liver‐Related Mortality

Abstract

Background&Aims:The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated down-scaling of in-hospital care to prohibit the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2). We (i)assessed patient perceptions on quality of care by tele-survey(cohort 1) and written questionnaire(cohort 2) and (ii)analyzed trends in elective and non-elective admissions prior to (12/2019- 02/2020) and during (03/2020-05/2020) the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. Methods:Two-hundred seventy-nine outpatients were recruited into cohort 1 and 138 patients into cohort 2. All admissions from 12/2019 to 05/2020 to the Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology at the Vienna General Hospital were analyzed. Results:Thirty-two point six percent (n=91/279) of cohort 1 and 72.5%(n=95/131) of cohort 2 had tele-medical contact, while 59.5%(n=166/279)and 68.2%(n=90/132) had face-to-face visits. 24.1%(n=32/133) needed acute medical help during healthcare restrictions, however, 57.3%(n=51/89) reported that contacting their physician during COVID-19 was difficult or impossible. Patient-reported satisfaction with treatment decreased significantly during restrictions in cohort 1 (visual analog scale[VAS] 0-

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