The professional and personal impact of the coronavirus pandemic on US neurointerventional practices: a nationwide survey

Abstract

BackgroundLittle is currently known about the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on neurointerventional (NI) procedural volumes or its toll on physician wellness.MethodsA 37-question online survey was designed and distributed to physician members of three NI physician organizations.ResultsA total of 151 individual survey responses were obtained. Reduced mechanical thrombectomy procedures compared with pre-pandemic were observed with 32% reporting a greater than 50% reduction in thrombectomy volumes. In concert with most (76%) reporting at least a 25% reduction in non-mechanical thrombectomy urgent NI procedures and a nearly unanimous (96%) cessation of non-urgent elective cases, 68% of physicians reported dramatic reductions (>50%) in overall NI procedural volume compared with pre-pandemic. Increased door-to-puncture times were reported by 79%. COVID-19-positive infections occurred in 1% of physician respondents: an additional 8% quarantined for suspected infection. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported increased career stress, 56% increased personal life/family stress, and 35% increased career burnout. Stress was significantly increased in physicians with COVID-positive family members (P<0.05).ConclusionsThis is the first study designed to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on NI physician practices, case volumes, compensation, personal/family stresses, and work-related burnout. Future studies examining these factors following the resumption of elective cases and relaxing of social distancing measures will be necessary to better understand these phenomena.

Experiences and management of physician psychological symptoms during infectious disease outbreaks: a rapid review

“…The most common psychological symptoms measured with surveys or validated questionnaires reported included anxiety (n = 103), depression (n = 73), stress (n = 68), fear (n = 61), burnout (n = 25), mental distress/health (n = 21), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n = 14) (Additional File 3). Most COVID-19 studies reported on physicians from USA (n = 23) [41,52,66,70,77,[90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107], China (n = 22) [15, 49, 54-56, 65, 68, 73, 86, 89, 102, 108-118] followed by India (n = 21) [40,50,58,63,67,71,102,[119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132] [41,52,…”

Transition to virtual appointments for interventional neuroradiology due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey of satisfaction

“…The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the way we live and practice modern day medicine. 1 In an effort to practice physical distancing, many specialties have moved routine patient encounters to telephone and virtual platforms. [2][3][4] These changes may not be temporary.…”

International teleproctoring in neurointerventional surgery and its potential impact on clinical trials in the era of COVID-19: legal and technical considerations

“…Telemedicine approaches have helped to mitigate adverse effects of this by replacing or augmenting some previous routine clinical activities. [6][7][8][9] Given the persistence of worldwide travel restrictions, teleproctoring for the introduction and supervision of the safe use of novel devices is becoming necessary.…”