Publication Date
1-1-2024
Journal
American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
DOI
10.1097/PHM.0000000000002331
PMID
37602564
PMCID
PMC10840623
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
1-1-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Humans, Retrospective Studies, Inpatients, COVID-19, Hospitalization, Referral and Consultation, Neoplasms, COVID-19, Neoplasms, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Referral and Consultation, Rehabilitation Center
Abstract
There is a paucity of literature on the effect of COVID-19 on hospital processes. We hypothesized that COVID-19 was associated with decreased cancer physiatry referrals in 2020. This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients from April to July 2019 and 2020 admitted at an academic quaternary cancer center. The main outcomes were number of hospital admissions, rate, and characteristics of inpatient rehabilitation admissions and change in percentage of physiatry referrals as the primary endpoint. Results showed that in 2019, there were 387 referrals from 10,274 inpatient admissions (3.8%; 95% confidence interval, 2.4-4.2), compared with 337 referrals from 7051 admissions in 2020 (4.8%; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-5.3, P = 0.001). Hematology services referred more patients than neurosurgery in 2020 (20.4% vs. 31.4%; 48.2% vs. 26.5%, P = 0.01). Discharge disposition reflected an increased frequency of return to acute care service in 2020 (10.2% vs. 21.8%, P = 0.03). In conclusion, there was an increase in the rate of physiatry referrals despite a decrease in hospital admissions. There was an increase in referrals by hematology, likely due to emphasis on safe discharge and the populations hospitalized.
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, COVID-19 Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, Neoplasms Commons, Pediatrics Commons, Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons, Sports Medicine Commons