Dermatology and Venereology Consultation Pattern from Inpatient and Emergency Department in Tertiary Hospital Setting Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic

Background/Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has compromised healthcare services in dermatology and venereology. Given such circumstances, studies investigating the consultation pattern of related fields in hospitals were relatively scarce. The present study aimed to delineate such matter from tertiary hospital viewpoint.Methods: Details concerning referred patients from the emergency room, inpatient wards, intensive care unit, and nursery to the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital were retrospectively collected from electronic health records. Cases admitted in the 17 months span before and during COVID-19 global outbreak were included. The obtained data were presented descriptively, and Chi-squared test was performed upon attributes of interest at a significance level of 0.05.Results: A slight increase of total consultation was found in the COVID-19 era with an initial reduction at the beginning (April- May 2020). One-time consultation was the most inquired to our department in both periods of which dermatitis was the most prevalent case and Gram staining was the most common examination. Topical antibiotics and emollient were the most prescribed medications before and during the outbreak, respectively. The conformity of initial-final decision, appropriateness of initial-final diagnosis, and consult response time were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups.Conclusion: There were changes of the number of consultation requests in the pandemic era with statistically significant change of decision conformity, diagnoses, appropriateness, and consult response time. Although some changes appeared, the most prevalent diagnoses remained.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the consultation pattern in dermatology and venereology from a tertiary hospital perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that there was a slight increase in consultation requests during the pandemic era. One-time consultation was the most common type in both periods, with dermatitis being the most prevalent case and Gram staining being the most common examination. There were significant differences in decision conformity, diagnoses, appropriateness, and consult response time between the two groups.