Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie auf Konsultationen & Diagnosen in den HNO-Praxen in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund Während der ersten Monate der COVID-19-Pandemie kam es zu einer deutlichen Reduktion in der Frequentierung der Institutionen im Gesundheitswesen. Dieser Umstand beeinflusste die rechtzeitige Diagnosestellung und subsequente Therapieeinleitung in nahezu sämtlichen Fachgebieten. Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung ist die Evaluation eines hypothetisch veränderten Gesundheitsbewusstseins in Bezug auf die ambulante Konsultation von HNO-Ärzten in Deutschland.

Material und Methoden Diese Studie nutzte die anonymisierten Daten aus 146 HNO-Praxen in Deutschland und umfasste 162724 Patienten im 2. Quartal 2019, 158077 im 3. Quartal 2019, 128342 im 2. Quartal 2020 und 149153 im 3. Quartal 2020. Das erste Outcome war der Unterschied in der Anzahl der Patienten mit mindestens einem Besuch in diesen Praxen zwischen dem zweiten und dritten Quartal 2019 und dem zweiten und dritten Quartal 2020. Das zweite Outcome war die Anzahl der Patienten mit neuen Diagnosen pro Praxis, definiert als Diagnosen, die zuvor nicht in der Datenbank für einen bestimmten Patienten dokumentiert waren.

Ergebnisse Die Anzahl der Patienten pro Praxis war im 2. Quartal 2020 im Vergleich zum 2. Quartal 2019 signifikant geringer (879 versus 1108; p<0,001). Beim Vergleich des 3. Quartals 2020 mit dem 3. Quartal 2019 zeigten sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede (1022 versus 1083; p=0,261). Diagnosen von Otitis media (-43%), akuten Infektionen der oberen Atemwege (-42%), chronischen Erkrankungen der oberen Atemwege (-21%) und Hörsturz (-20%) nahmen im 2. Quartal 2020 verglichen zum 2. Quartal 2019 signifikant ab. Im 3. Quartal 2020 gab es im Vergleich zum 3. Quartal 2019 darüber hinaus einen signifikanten Rückgang der Patientenzahlen für akute Infektionen der oberen Atemwege (-26%) und Otitis media (-25%).

Schlussfolgerungen Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse sind, neben einer Vermeidung von Arztkontakten vonseiten der PatientInnen, sowohl auf die reduzierte Terminvergabe durch die HNO-Praxen als auch auf die konsequente Einhaltung und Umsetzung der Abstands- bzw. Hygieneregeln im Sinne der Verwendung von Atemschutzmasken (FFP2/KN95) zurückzuführen.

Abstract

Objective During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant reduction in the frequency of visits to healthcare institutions. This circumstance influenced the timely diagnosis and subsequential initiation of therapy in almost all specialties. The aim of the present study is to evaluate a hypothetical change in health awareness with regard to outpatient consultations of ENT physicians in Germany.

Material and methods This study used anonymized data from 146 ENT practices in Germany and included 162,724 patients in Q2 2019, 158,077 in Q3 2019, 128,342 in Q2 2020, and 149,153 in Q3 2020. The first outcome was the difference in the number of patients with at least one visit to these practices between the second and third quarters of 2019 and the second and third quarters of 2020. The second outcome was the number of patients with new diagnoses per practice, defined as diagnoses not previously documented in the database for a given patient.

Results The number of patients per practice was significantly lower in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019 (879 versus 1108, p<0.001). There were no significant differences when comparing Q3 2020 to Q3 2019 (1022 versus 1083, p=0.261). Diagnoses of otitis media (-43%), acute upper respiratory tract infections (-42%), chronic upper respiratory tract diseases: (-21%), hearing loss (-20%) decreased significantly in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019. There was still a significant decrease in patient numbers for acute upper respiratory tract infections (-26%) and otitis media (-25%) in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019.

Conclusions The presented results are attributable to several facts. Avoidance of doctor´s visits by the patients, reduction of allocation of appointments by practices and consistent obeying of distance and hygiene measures in terms of wearing filtering face masks (e.g. FFP2/KN95).

Schlüsselwörter

COVID-19 - Corona - HNO-Praxis - Versorgung - Lockdown

Keywords

COVID-19 - ENT-practice - Lockdown

Publication History

Received: 12 April 2021

Accepted after revision: 11 May 2021

Article published online:
15 June 2021

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